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GREEK IMMIGRATION
TO THE UNITED STATES

• • • -•

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__.,^.--^

A rUTUEte AMERICAN

c;rep;k immigration

THK rXITKU STATES

HKM. IT I.WIU-IIII.O

■.1 !! \V!.,\"- \ ■-

GREEK IMMIGRATION

THE UNITED STATES

HENRY PRATT ^AIRCHILD

NEW HAVEN I YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDONi HENRY FROWDE

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

HCMXI

COVTKIOBT, 1011,

Yale UinTBBsrrT Pmm

Pint printed February, 101 1, looo copie*

i 61 575

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TO MY WIFE

PREFACE

THIS work was prepared as a part of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, in connection
with the Department of Anthropology in Yale University.
The effort was made to secure for it the merit which
attaches to a scientific production, and in so far as this
effort has been successful it is in large measure due to the
scholarly atmosphere in which the work was done. It was
also carried on under the auspices of the Carnegie Institu-
tion of Washington. To it I am deeply indebted for
financial assistance, without which the work must have
been much more limited in scope.

Inasmuch as the book is based almost wholly on per-
sonal investigation, I am aware that it is open to the
inaccuracies which beset that kind of a study. I have
selected my sources of information with the greatest care,
and have taken pains to avoid making any positive state-
ments unless I was myself convinced of the truth of them ;
yet there are undoubtedly errors due to faulty judgment.
My hope is that on the whole my opinions and conclusions
are not too widely at variance with those which a complete
knowledge of all the facts would justify. The same causes
have necessitated the frequent use of the first personal
pronoun, which is undesirable but unavoidable.

In some cases I have felt compelled to suppress the exact
identity of my informants, as their position and the nature
of the information furnished by them have been such as to
lead them to request expressly that their names should not
be mentioned.

PREFACE

The meagemess of the bibliography is due to the fact
that practically nothing has been written directly on the
subject, outside of a few magazine articles, and it can
serve for little else than incidental reference.

In an undertaking of this kind, I have put myself under
obligation to a very large number of people. Men and
women from every station of life, both Americans and
Greeks, on both sides of the Atlantic, have put their time
and their information freely at my disposal. To try to
acknowledge even a few of these debts individually is out
of the question. Let me briefly, but sincerely, express my
deep gratitude to every one of the many by whose kind
consideration the prosecution of the work was made
possible.

I cannot forbear, however, to mention the names of a
small number whose connection with the work has been
such as to render my obligation to them quite distinct.
Foremost among these is Professor Albert 6. Keller, under
whose personal guidance the work was carried on. In
ways too numerous to mention, he has shown his interest in
the undertaking, and his advice and inspiration have been
invaluable. To Professor Walter F. Willcox, of the
Carnegie Institution, I also feel a personal obligation for
kindly interest, advice and encouragement. Three friends
in Greece to whom I feel sincerely grateful for valuable
assistance, and many kincmesses, are Consul-Greneral
George W. Horton in Athens (now of Saloniki), and
Consul Edward Nathan (now of Mersine), and Vice-
consul H. J. Woodley in Patras.

New Haven, January, 1911.

CONTENTS

Part I.

The Conditions^ Causes and Sources of Emigration.

Chapter I. The Physical Environment ... 3

Chapter II. National Character 12

Chapter III. Religion and Language .... 42

Chapter IV. The Direct Causes of Emigration . 58

Chapter V. The Sources and Means of Emigration 88

Part II.

The Greeks in the United States.

Chapter VI. Stetistical Review 109

Chapter VII. Greek Colonies in the United States 119

Chapter VIII. Economic Conditions l65

Chapter IX. Social Conditions 191

Part III.

Effects of Immigration.

Chapter X. Effects on the Immigrants 215

Chapter XI. Effects on Greece 220

Chapter XII. Effects on the United States . . . 286

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

A Future American Frontispiece.

Corfu Opposite page 6

Typical Dwellings 86

Monk and Acoljte 48

Peasant Plowing with Wooden Plow 61

Plant of the Soci6te Hellenique de Vins et Spiritueux^

Fleusis 67

Harbor of Patras by Night 81

Tsipiana 90

A Scene on Board Ship ^ 102

Immigrants on Board 118

Greek Orthodox Church, Lowell 141

Bootblack Shop and Two of the Boys, New Haven . 179

Immigrants Embarking for the United States at Patras 210

Women Washing at the Fountain^ Tsipiana . 218

Public Square, Tripolis 229

Peasant Types, Megalopolis 248

Xlll

INTRODUCTION

FIVE centuries ago there lay before the European races
a third of the entire land surface of the world, newly
opened. But few obstacles, and those easily superable,
opposed the occupation of the temperate portions of this
new earth. Thus the whole equation between men and land
underwent a momentous alteration, and one which can
scarcely be repeated on this planet. The conjuncture, as
Professor Sumner was wont to say, now came to be in
favor of men. Under the freer conditions of life there
resulted, of necessity, a thorough modification of the mode
of society — of human customs, institutions, and philoso-
phies. Before the race, now exempt from checks inherent
in narrower and more exacting environmental conditions,
and loosed from the social system developed under neces-
sity of adaptation to them, there lay the possibility of an
indefinite growth and expansion. In a very real sense
humanity had a new chance; the most advanced and
adaptable of human races could pick and choose from out
of its past, and, so far as it was conscious of its situation,
it could strive to make of its future something more
rational, something at least partially disentangled from
world-old drags upon progress.'

Of the double continent then thrown open, the most con-
siderable portion, suitable for permanent occupation, was
the zone now included within the boundaries of our own
country. Here it was that the men were wanted; there
could not be too many of them. Quality was somewhat
looked to, it is true, but quantity was the great desidera-

INTRODUCTION

turn. As time went on, and the nation grew and yet
managed to keep its unity and to reduce the incoming
aliens to its type, there arose a deep-seated conviction as
to the incomparable and inexhaustible assimilating power
of the nation. The crude ores dumped into the crucible
might be what they might — ^the fusion would be thorough,
the mold compellingly formative, the result sound and
dependable.

But there are signs in the present days that this con-
viction is being shaken. As the country is filling up and
as conditions are coming not so distantly to resemble those
of older lands, the tendency is to think less of quantity and
more of quality than heretofore. The strain to which the
national power of assimilation is being subjected causes
many to harbor concern as to the outcome. Some would
limit immigration irrespective even of its quality ; few wish
to see it as unrestricted as it used to be; and any citizen
of sense realizes that we must know the facts about it.
Any student of human society can see that as the popula-
tion grows and presses ever more insistently upon the land,
the issues surrounding the contact of races are bound to be
vital and perhaps determinative of the destiny of the
nation.

The reader of this book will learn much about on« of
the new and characteristic groups of our fellow citizens.
Their number is small, it is true, but the impressioh they
yield is the more clear and definite. It is often impossible
to analyze the large and complex cases with much success,
until one has learned to know and to estimate the value of
factors which remain somewhat isolated in the more re-
stricted fields of observation. Further, it is peculiarly
needful in investigation of immigration that the observer

xvi

INTRODUCTION

shall not be hampered in any avoidable way in getting at
the circumstances and motives of the immigrant ; he should
know the language, and the disposition, customs, and
habitudes of the people he wishes to study ; and he should
be able through sympathy to gain insight. As respects
these considerations the following study has been carried
out under the most favorable of auspices.

A. 6. Kelleb.
New Haven, January 21, 1911.

xvu

GREEK IMMIGRATION
TO THE UNITED STATES

PART I

THE CONDITIONS, CAUSES AND SOURCES OF

EMIGRATION

• •!

GREEK IMMIGRATION TO TftE

UNITED STATES

• .•

CHAPTER I

The Physical Environment

■j^OR the study of any group of people the fundamental
^ basis is a survey of the nature of the country in
which they are placed. The influence of physical environ-
ment on the history and character of the races of men is
a matter which is just beginning to be adequately com-
prehended. The general idea is not new. It has long been
vaguely understood that an elevated habitat tends to breed
a hardy and independent race, that extreme heat and
luxuriance of natural production are conducive to enerva-
tion and indolence, that the temperate zone is best fitted
to develop a progressive people. But the influence of
man's natural surroundings is much more definite, funda-
mental and far-reaching than this. Trade routes, political
organizations and affiliations, the development of industry
and agriculture, even national character and religion are
intimately dependent on the physical surroundings in
which a race is placed. In no phase of human activity is
this more true than in the matter of the movement of
peoples — ^in short, migration. Whether people shall move
or not, where they shall go, what shall be their relation
with the country of departure, are matters which depend

• «

• •

• «

GREEK IMMIGRATION

\.'\

very/.Iaifgely on the topography of the region in which
tbej^'&d themselves placed.

/^^cordingly, in undertaking a study of modem Greek
eAiigration it is essential first of all to get a concise yet
**.comprehensiYe view of the natural character of the region
• in which this remarkable race has developed. When the
word "Greece" is heard, it is natural first of all to think
of the small and broken peninsula, stretching down from
eastern Europe into the Mediterranean, which bears that
name. This is indeed Greece proper, the cradle of the
Hellenic race, the center of the ancient life and culture
which have commanded the admiration of all civilized
peoples for so many centuries. Yet a second consideration
will reveal, perhaps to a surprising degree, how large and
important a part of the truest Greek life was developed
outside the bounds of the peninsula. Many of the most
typical representatives of the ancient Greek race, such as
Herodotus, Archimedes and Aristotle, were bom and lived
outside of the limits of this district. What is perhaps the
finest type of classical architecture, the Ionic, took its
name from the coast of Asia Minor. Ancient Greece,
broadly but truly speaking, included not only the peninsula
but the Ionian Islands, the Archipelago, Crete, Cyprus,
the coast of Asia Minor, the shores of the Bosphorus and
the Black Sea, and even the borders of Italy and northern
Africa. And so at the present time, if we wish to under-
stand the modem Greek people, or, as in the present
instance, to get at the sources of Greek emigration, we
must bear in mind more than the European mainland,
more even than the territory included in the Greek king-
dom. A large proportion of the modem race, represent-
ing a verj' important part of Greek life, is situated in

THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

other Mediterranean countries, especially in lands ruled
over by the Turkish Sultan. Smyrna contains about the
same number of Greeks as Athens, and Constantinople
many more, probably more than Athens and the Piraeus
together. But today, as of old, the peninsula is the heart
of Greek life and the center of the phenomena of emigra-
tion in which we are particularly interested. Let us glance
hurriedly at the main features of this district, the general
nature of which is so familiar that the briefest review will
suffice to fix them in our minds.

Greece proper is a very mountainous and deeply
indented peninsula, almost severed by the Gulf of Corinth
and the Gulf of iEgina, the two parts being joined by the
narrow Isthmus of Corinth. In spite of the precipitous
nature of much of the coast there are a number of excellent
harbors. The most striking feature of the topography,
next to the broken coast line, is the way in which the
mountains break it up into a number of small and more
or less isolated districts. The most important of these
are the following. Beginning with the Macedonian border,
there is the large plain of Thessaly, bounded by Mount
Pindos and Mount Othrys. To the west is the large and
very mountainous district of Epiros, with the small regions
of Achamania and iEtolia to the south. Moving toward
the Isthmus, there is Boeotia and Attica, separated from
each other by Mounts Cithsron and Fames. Crossing
into the Peloponnesus, there is the broken region of Achaia
on the north, with the plain of Elis to the southwest and
Argolis to the southeast. The central district is Arcadia,
and the southern end of the peninsula is made up of
Laconia and Messenia, separated by the towering Tay-
getos range. These are only the main divisions. There

GREEK IMMIGRATIOV

are scores of smaller ones, all more or less separated from
each other. The rest of the modem Greek world is made
up for the most part of a large number of islands, and
the coastal regions of Egypt, and European and Asiatic
Turkey.

>^ Grenerally speaking, then, the home of the Greek race
consists of a host of small habitation-districts, separated
from each other by more or less impassable barriers of sea
or land. Some of these are coastal regions along the
eastern waters of the Mediterranean; some are islands;
some are fertile districts on the European mainland, sepa-
rated from each other by great chains of precipitous
mountains. This is particularly true in the Peloponnesus.
This half of the peninsula is composed of a series of tiny,
fertile valleys or plains, marked off from each other by
enormous walls of barren and rocky mountains, almost or
wholly impassable, except for a few narrow passes, in
themselyes sufficiently difficult. Perhaps nothing impresses
the traveler through the Morea more than the roughness
of the country and the difficulty of access from one region
to another. The lines of railroad are one long succession
of windings and twistings, of ascents and descents, with
only occasional stretches of comparatively level track as
one or another of the plains is reached. From Tripolis to
Bilali (the branch station for Megalopolis) is 41.2 kilo-
meters, or S6.6 miles, mostly down grade. The schedule
time for passenger trains is one hour and fifty minutes.
The little districts lying between these mighty barriers are
often very alluring and of great fertility, but the great
areas of the kingdom which are comprised in the barriers
themselves are barren and inhospitable in the extreme.
The effects of this peculiar environment on the Greek

THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

race, which are of especial importance in the present inves-
tigation, are in the main twofold — ^the effect on the occu-:.
pations of the people, and the effect on the national char-
I acter. First, as regards occupations. Greece is of
necessity primarily an agricultural country. There are
a few mineral resources (see page 67), but they have never
attained any great importance. Mining and manu-
factures have never enjoyed a large development. The
difficulties of communication, above noted, have had the
effect of limiting the market, and this, as Adam Smith
pointed out,'*' is one of the greatest hindrances to division
of labor and hence to the development of industry.

On the other hand, however, in the sheltered valleys and
on the fertile uplands agricultural pursuits find a suitable
field, and the vine, the olive tree, and the wheat plant have
always flourished, furnishing an easy subsistence for a not
too dense population. On the mountain slopes flocks of
sheep and goats browse, furnishing materials for clothing
as well as the comparative luxuries of milk, butter and
cheese, and occasionally meat. It is comparatively easy
to secure the bare necessities of life in Greece. But a
strictly agricultural country is always threatened with
over-population. By the law of Malthus, unless there is
a steady improvement in the arts of living the population
will always be pressing on the limits of subsistence. And
in Greece, in the absence of industry, there has not been
a sufficient improvement in the arts of agriculture to
provide for the natural increase of the population. By
the natural configuration of the country each small
habitation-district is closely confined within itself. Any
gradual extension of the territorial limits by a process of
* Wealth of Nations, Book I., Chapter 3.

GREEK IMMIGRATION

slow indiyidoal migration by short stages is absolutely
prohibitecL Bat the Greeks are a prolific race and there
has consequently always been a surplus population, which
has been forced to find an outlet for its activities in some
new region apart from its native soiL On account of the
very broken coast line of the peninsula, a great proportion ^
of the habitation-districts of the mainland, as well as of
the islands, border on the sea. The result is that this
surplus population has very largely taken to navigation
and commercial pursuits, so that from time immemorial
the Greeks have been a maritime people, the traders and
carriers of the Lievant. ^h^<n^ ^^^♦V

But many of the habitation-districts are in the interior
and do not touch the sea, and from these too the surplus
inhabitants have been forced to wander from their home
fields, and either follow their low-country brothers out on
the wide seas, or find a home on the shores of some distant
land. Consequently in ancient times we find colonies set-
ting out from Greece for widely scattered regions, and like-
wise more recently, individually and in groups, Greeks
have established themselves in sections of the Mediterra-
nean lands, and in many more distant parts of the world's
surface.

But though coming from agricultural regions and pur-
suits, the Greek does not usually follow that line of occupa-
tion in his adopted home. Especially in the Levant, the
Greek is much superior in energy and business ability to
the native peoples among whom he finds himself placed, and
he has consequently found it to his advantage to devote
himself to commercial rather than agricultural activities,
with the result that he succeeds in building up a much
greater fortune in his new home than he could ever have

THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

hoped to acquire in the fatherland. Today, the most
prosperous business men of Alexandria, Cairo, Smyrna and
Constantinople are largely Greeks, and even as far as
Persia they are found in control of all important business.
More isolated cases of successful Greek merchants are to be
found in cities almost all over the world. Stated suc-
cinctly, Greece has always been a splendid place to go
away from to make a fortune, and the very topographical
peculiarities which have forced the Greeks to wander, have
produced a race admirably fitted to secure the desired end
in new fields. Emigration from Greece is no new thing.
But in times past the Greek emigrant always looked
forward to eventual return, if possible, to his home land,
where he might settle down in peace and quietude and
spend the declining years of his life in the restful enjoy-
ment of his acquired wealth. The ancient Greek colony
was an ^iroucia and the colonist was an 3wouco9 — one who was
away from home.* The tie with the mother city was a
very close one and the highest aim of the ancient colony
was to glorify and enrich the community from which it
came. If in many cases the offspring outgrew and some-
times rebelled against the parent, it was a later and some-
what exceptional development. The attitude of the Greek
emigrant toward his home land has remained very similar
up to very recent times. How much of change the last
few years have witnessed will appear later.

The second effect of the physical environment which is
of special importance in the present discussion is the effect
on the national character of the Greeks. It would be
overstraining a good point to claim that all the intri-
cacies of the Hellenic character are due to the natural

* Keller, Colonizatioii, p. 48.

GREEK IMMIGRATION

surrounding. There are doubtless many other influences
in the racial composition of the Greeks themselves and in
their contact with other races which have tended to mold
their character. Yet it cannot be doubted that the topog-
raphy of the country has had a profound influence in
shaping the moral and intellectual features of the people.
The same barriers which prevented or impeded conmiercial
and industrial development, also forbade social communi-
cation and interrelation between the different groups of
the population. Those rugged mountain chains and
stretches of stormy sea made impossible any free and con-
tinuous play of social forces and interchange of social
ideals. Just as there could be no gradual and impercep-
tible mingling of the blood of the various groups, so
there could be no common participation in friendly inter-
course. Consequently, instead of an amalgamated Greek
race spread over the various parts of the kingdom, there
was a congeries of small kin-groups, having each its inde-
pendent existence, meeting oftener for war than for other
more peaceful intercourse. This of necessity fostered
differences, jealousies, and misunderstandings. What
other forces tending in the same direction there may have
been in the misty ancestry of the race, it is impossible to
say. But however caused, today, as well as in ancient
times, one of the most pronounced features of the Greek
character is a factiousness, a sectionalism, a clannishness,
an inability to take the point of view of one's neighbor,
which has extended beyond the tribal limits to the domain
of personal relations and individual character, making it
very difficult for Greeks to unite in any common enter-
prise.

The traveler whose boyhood study of ancient Greek

THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

history has impressed him with the importance of the
frequent wars between Lacedemonians, Spartans, Arca-
dians, et al., is astonished to learn by personal visitation
how limited is the actual territory of the several diminutive
^ndngdoms" with the names of which he is so familiar.
When one reflects that the whole lot of them are included
in a territory of about the same area as the state of West
Virginia, he realizes that no one of them can be very large.
The tribal wars are a thing of the past ; roads, railroads,
and steamboats are beginning to make communication
between different parts of the kingdom much easier, but
the old factionalism remains a prominent feature of the
Greek character, and has an intimate bearing on the
subject of the present investigation. The foregoing
facts, not at all unfamiliar as they are, and thus so briefly
stated, are yet of fundamental importance to a thorough
understanding of Greek emigration, and serve as a basis
for the present study. Various illustrations and applica-
tions will develop from time to time.

CHAPTER II

National. Character

T N trying to form an estimate of modem Greek life and
■*■ character from the writings of recent travelers one is
very quickly impressed with the discouraging lack of
unanimity in the opinions expressed by different observers
of apparently equal trustworthiness. It would be hard to
find a subject on which such absolutely contradictory
opinions are expressed with a greater degree of positive-
ness than that of the modern Greeks. Following are a
few typical sentences:

"When it is of importance to know the exact truth the
Greek can be trusted quite as much as the average Ameri-
can.*' The Greek priest is "poor always, superstitious
usually, ignorant often, he is without exception sincere.'**

"Taken as a whole the Greeks are a moral and orderly
people."t

"Cowards, bearers of false witness and liars are common
national types." "The Greek race is unworthy of the
sympathy of honest and brave men."j:

"There may be great piety in Greek homes but the
visitor sees none of it."§

"From all that I have been able to learn, I cannot have
the least hesitation in asserting that family life, the comer
stone of social morality, has maintained itself in a much

*The Modern Greek, W. A. Elliott, Chautauquan, 43:144.

fLife and Travel in Modem Greece, T. D. Seymour, Scribn9f'$,
4:46.

t Greece and Its People, 8<Uurday Review, 84:456.

§ Monasteries and Religion in Greece, J. P. Mahaffy, Chautauquan,
9:1.

NATIONAL CHARACTER

purer state in Greece than in the other countries of
southern Europe."*

Lord Byron himself said» *^The Greeks are perhaps the
most depraved and degraded people under the sun, uniting
to their original vices both those of their oppressors and
those inherent in slaves, "t

**No motive appeals more strongly to the modern Greek
than the desire to be worthy of those he believes to be his

ancestors All the traditions of a glorious past are

moulded into the fabric of his little state The new

life and its language, as well as the new state, is a reem-
bodiment of the old."t

**Now to the modem Greek himself this feeling (of senti-
mentally linking the new Greece with the old) is utterly

unnatural, and indeed hardly intelligible The

Hellenic past beyond that (the historical Greek church)
is infinitely more remote and unreal to him than it is to

ourselves The whole play is largely a farce in his

eyes. The enthusiastic Philhellene is a benevolent mad-
man to him, but a madman whom it is worth while to
humor."§

As the former of these last two quotations was written
in 1897 and the latter in 1885 we perhaps ought to make
allowance for a slight change in the attitude of the Greek
on this matter, due to twelve years of tutelage under the
benevolently mad Philhellene.

* Character, Condition and Prospects of the Greek People, Western
Reviwf, 69:345.

t Quoted in The Spoilt Child of Europe, R. W. Hanbury, Nine-
teenth Century, 6:998.

^The Modem Greeic as a Fighting Man, BenJ. Ide Wheeler, North
American Review, 164: 609.

§ Ancient and Modem Greek, W. C. Lawton, Atlantic, 56:399.

GREEK IMMIGRATION

Thu variety of opinions is undoubtedly due in part to
this same ardent Philhellenism which inspires so many
travelers to classic lands. In the mind of the typical pil-
grim, especially of a generation or two ago» anything
Greek was shrouded in a romantic mist of glory. The
words, actions and avocations of the modem peasant were
regarded through the rainbow glasses of a glorious tradi-
tion, and the eiFusions of the ever present guide ranked
for historical accuracy with the writings of Herodotus.
Set side by side with a description written from this point
of view, an unbiased statement of the cold, bare facts must
of necessity seem sadly inharmonious.

But there is a more fundamental reason than this for
the discrepancy. The very diversity of life and interest
which has been noted above, has produced a diversity of
character. As are the Greeks of one region, so are they
,not of another. It is almost impossible to make any
general statements in regard to the Greek character
against which a host of exceptions will not rise in protest.
And this is true, not only of the race as a whole, but of
individuals. One finds the strangest mixture of contra-
dictory qualities manifesting themselves under diflPerent
circumstances in the same person. At one moment one
feels his heart swelling with admiration for the modem
Greek as one of the finest types in the world. The next,
seeing him from a diflPerent angle, he feels that he is abso-
lutely despicable. Accordingly, in the ensuing considera-
tion of modem Greek character, it must be borne in mind
that the eflPort is made to picture the people as a whole.
Anyone familiar with a number of Greeks will be able to
find individuals whose lives and character will gainsay
almost every statement that shall be made.

NATIONAL CHARACTER

This diversity of character has undoubtedly been aug-
mented by the checkered career of the Greek race in the
last twenty centuries and the various admixtures of foreign
blood to which the racial stock has been submitted. This
brings us to a matter about which there has been endless
discussion of a more or less passionate nature — the ques-
tion of the physical descent of the modem from the
ancient Greeks. To a clear understanding of this subject
a brief survey of the history of the race from the time of
the Roman conquest is essential.

A hundred years before the beginning of the Christian
era, under Roman domination, the population of Greece,
already largely composed of slaves, was undergoing a
further degradation. Alien invaders came Ih and the old
stock was dispersed. This process continued until about
the middle of the third century A. D., when the invasions
of the Groths marked the beginning of a long series of
inundations from the north. The Groths were followed by
the Vandals, the Avars, and the Slavs, and finally by the
great flood of Albanians, whose influence on the racial
stock was the most lasting of any. For centuries Greece
was the shuttlecock of foreign conquerors. The Romans
and the barbarians were followed by the French and the
Venetians. Finally, about 1460, the Turks got complete
possession of the land, and then began three and a half
centuries of oppression more grinding and terrible than
anything that had gone before. Every imaginable indig-
nity was heaped upon the miserable denizens of the once
glorious land. The crowning insult was the child tax,
by which one fifth of all the male Christian children in
Greece were taken away to Constantinople, to become
servants, clerks and janissaries for the Turk. The

GREEK IMMIGRATION

strongest^ healthiest and most intelligent children were
always chosen, and the tax was so oppressive that it
caused many to become Mohammedans, while others
reached a pitch of degradation where they welcomed the
tax as a means of saving their children from starvation.
During all this period the Greeks in Egypt, Asia Minor
and Syria were suffering like misfortunes under the Arabs
and the various successive masters of these lands.

At last, in the beginning of the nineteenth century, the
spirit of independence awoke, and in 1821 began the long
struggle which seven years later culminated in the freedom
of Greece from the Turkish yoke. The task of recon-
struction was a difficult one. Athens was in ruins, scarcely
any of the houses even having roofs. A new state had to
be created from nothing but ashes. As there was no royal
family in existence, a ruler had to be chosen. Capo
d' Istria was first made president, but he proved unequal
to the position and was assassinated in 18S1. Next a
Bavarian boy of seventeen was called to become king, and
ruled as King Otho until 1862, when he too was deposed.
Then George of Denmark, a brother of the dowager
queen, Alexandra of England, was called to the throne,
and has managed to hold his position up to the present
time. His cool, even nature proved a valuable counter-
poise to the excitability of his subjects. But his task was
a difficult one, and progress was so slow that in 1888 the
historian Cox wrote:*

1'^That man must be sanguine indeed who can bring
himself to think that during the years that have passed
, (since the deposition of Otho) the evils which affect Greek
' society have been attacked at their roots The old

* Cox, General History of Greece, p. 670.

NATIONAL CHARACTER

faults of the Greek character still produce their evil fruit
of personal corruption, of reckless place-hunting, of
selfishness, faction, jealousy and slander. The memory
of a great past still leads to talking rather than action;
and the close of half a century of independence leaves the
Greeks much where they were when the first years of
freedom seemed to give promise of better things."

The very considerable progress, both intellectual and
material, which has been made since that time reflects a
great deal of credit upon both sovereign and subjects.

With these facts in view there have yet been plenty of
writers to take both sides of the race controversy. Out
of the voluminous literature on the subject the following
opinions may be quoted:

''I am unable, for one, to accept the theory that the
modem Greeks are in any real sense either the true repre-
sentatives of the ancient Greek race or the repository of
its traditions.'**

'^Living in the midst of the same surroundings, with
the same climate, the same needs, and the same occupa-
tions, the Greeks have retained many of the peculiarities
of their ancestors. The foreign blood which runs in their
veins has been thoroughly a8similated."t

Perhaps the strongest advocate of the unity of the
modem with the ancient race is an Italian, Dr. G. Nico-
lucci, whose work is reviewed by J. B. D. in the Anthropo-
logical Review (6:154). He concludes that in physical
and moral characteristics the Greeks of today are not

'The Tbessaliftn War of 1807, Charles Williams, Fortfdghtly
R§vUw, 67:059.

fLife and Travel in Modem Greece^ T. D. Seymour, 8cHhn$v^9,
4t46.

GREEK IMMIGRATION

degraded from the happiest days of the ancients. ^^An-
thropology .... proclaims the Greeks of today legitimate
descendants of that people who filled the world with its
name and glory."

But the bulk of authority, including such names as
Cox, Professor Fallmerayer, A. L. Koeppen, Dr. Hyde
Clark, Benjamin Ide Wheeler and W. A. Elliott, is on
the other side. Professor Fallmerayer went so far as to
claim that the Hellenic blood was completely annihilated.
Perhaps the most trustworthy summary is that given by
Prof. William Z. Ripley in his Races of Europe, Chapter
XV.

*^The modem Greeks are a very mixed people. There
can be no doubt of this from a review of their history.
In despite of this, they still remain distinctly true to
their original Mediterranean ancestry. This has been
most convincingly proved in respect of their head form.
.... There can be no doubt that in Asia Minor, at least,
the word Greek is devoid of any racial significance. It
merely denotes a man who speaks Greek, or else one who
is a Greek Catholic, converted from Mohammedanism."

The unbiased traveler in modem Greece can hardly
fail to be converted to the belief in a serious admixture.
Albanian settlements are frequent in many districts of
Greece. Eleusis, the home of the ancient Mysteries, is
now an Albanian town. Within two hours' walk of Athens,
I strolled into the little village of Kamatero. I entered
the coiFee-house and sat down for a little conversation
with the host. Noticing that he spoke in a strange
tongue to his wife, I asked him what it was. He replied :
*' Albanian. But not true Albanian. We in the village
here are all %alf-tongues.' " In Messenia there is a large

j:*.

NATIONAL CHARACTER

Albanian population. When the railroad was put
through between Zevgalatio and Kalonero, there was a
discussion between a Greek village and an Albanian one
as to the name of a station which lay midway between the
two, with the result that the present station building bears
on one end the name '^^tos/' and on the other ^^Soulima."
It is almost inconceivable in the face of such evidence, and
in remembrance of the frequent invasions to which Greece
was subjected for so many centuries, that there should not
have been a very profound admixture of foreign blood.
While most modem Greeks dengr this vehemently, it is
nevertheless no uncommon thing to find a Greek who admits
that the race is a badly mixed lot, though he usually
excepts his own locality.

It is certainly hard to find any great number of modem
Greeks who in physical characteristics suggest the classic
type. There are a number of fairly distinct types to be
^bserved today. One of the commonest is of a fleshy habit,
with rather broad and heavy features, and a nose large
and almost bulbous. As regards anthropology, the
modem Greek is more broad headed than the ancient,
whom both Nicolucci and Ripley agree to have been
dolichocephalic, with an index of about 76.7. According
to the latter, *^The cephalic index of modem living Greeks
ranges with great constancy about 81." Dolichocephaly
is especially prevalent in Thessaly and Attica, while
brachycephaly is more abundant to the north, particularly
in Epirus. About Corinth, where there is Albanian mix-
ture, the index rises above 8S. On the whole the Pelo-
ponnesus is said to have best preserved the early dolicho-
cephaly. Modem Greeks are decidedly brunet, perhaps
more so than the ancients, though we can not go as far

GREEK IMMIGRATION

as one author who has attempted to prove that the ancient
Greeks were blonds on the basis of the fact that the gods
were usually represented as of fair complexion. He
argues that the gods would undoubtedly represent the
type of the race and that therefore the majority of the
population must have been blond. The absurdity of such
a course of reasoning appears when we remember that the
modem Greek has a profound admiration for blondness,
because it is so rare^ and it is very probable that the
ancients represented their gods in this way for the same
reason.

In regard to the pigmentation of the eyes, the brunet
type of the modern Greek is frequently varied with blue
or gray. In stature the modem Greek is intermediate
between the Turks, and the Albanians and Dalmatians,
about 1.65 meters or 5 feet and 5 inches. The character-
istic face is orthognathous, oval, rather narrow and high,
though as observed above, in regard to features there
great variation.

But whatever may be said in regard to the physical
descent, there can be no doubt that spiritually the
modem Greeks are the direct inheritors of the ancients.
A familiarity with the modem people brings countless
illustrations of the similarity of thought and character
between the old and the new, and clarifies many a dim
passage in ancient history. This spiritual identity has
been taken by some writers as a proof of physical unity.
It should rather serve as an illustration of the permanency
of custom, language, and habit of thought, which enables
national character to survive, while the physical basis on
which it rests is slowly but profoundly changing. The
modem Greek is still a wanderer, adventurous, devoted

NATIONAL CHARACTER

to a sea-faring life. He has **that peculiar mingling of
caution and daring supplemented with resourcefulness and
enterprise, that make the ideal sailor."* He is still very
inquisitive, a great talker, as eager as ever to ^Hell or to
hear some new thing." He will make a long story, illus-
trated with emphatic gestures, out of the very simplest
occurrence, and two Greeks are never at a loss for some-
thing to talk about. Greece, particularly Athens, is
flooded with newspapers. It is said that Athens publishes
more daily newspapers than New York. They contain
a good deal of news, but they also contain a considerable
amount of scurrilous abuse of each other and of various
public personages, which is highly pleasing to the Greek
palate.

The Greeks share many characteristics with other south
European races. They are passionate, quick-tempered
and excitable, though their impetuosity does not so often
lead to serious crimes as in the case of the Italians. They
are voluble and very fond of noise. To see a crowd of
men gathered round a card table one would think that
they were on the very point of a bloody hand-to-hand
encounter. The cards are slammed down on the table
with the greatest violence, fists are shaken in faces, and
such epithets as "thief," "liar," and "scoundrel" circulate
freely. But in point of fact the players are on just as
friendly terms as a couple of northerners calmly discussing
the prospect of rain the next day. This fondness of the
Greek for noise is of course greatest if he makes it himself.
It may be mere vociferation. It takes more shouting for
a couple of boatmen to bring their bark to the gangway
of a steamer than an Anglo-Saxon would require to

* The Modern Greek, W. A. Elliott, Chautauquan, 4St 144.

GREEK IMMIGRATION

manoeuver a fleet, while on an occasion like the arrival of
a big steamer in the Piraeus, when there are fifty boats
fi^i^ggliiig for the patronage, the eiFect is like a very
Babel let loose. But it may also be music. The Greeks
are beyond doubt a very musical people. The cabman
on his box, the bootblack at his stand, the clerk behind the
counter, and the shepherd on the hillside are alike liable at
any moment to burst forth into song. The visitor to the
prison on the hill back of Patras is pathetically impressed
with this fact as he sees a group of prisoners seated around
a table, singing away the afternoon to the accompaniment
of a guitar.

The real native music is of a strictly Oriental type,
weird, minor melodies, pitched in a high key and sung in
a nasal voice, with various grunts and groans, all quite
meaningless and often ludicrous to a western ear. Here,
too, volume is an essential. One of the printed rules in
one of the hotels in Tripolis is, ^'Guests are not allowed
to sing in their rooms." But when trained in Occidental
music the Greeks produce very fine eiFects, both vocally
and instrumentally. The military bands that one hears so
frequently in Athens are well worth listening to. The
native songs are almost all passionate love songs, quite
out of accord with the national marriage customs. To
hear some dark-haired dandy, **his eyes in a fine frenzy
rolling," sing in an impassioned voice.

By fate men wander far, some east^ some west.
The eyes see other places, new and strange;
In some new tree the doves rebuild their nest;
The heart alone of all things knows no change,*

Freely translated from a popular song.

NATIONAL CHARACTER

one would never suspect that at that very minute the
singer might be carrying on negotiations with two or
three diiFerent fathers to see which would pay him the
highest price to take his daughter off his hands.

The Greeks are also very fond of dancing. The folk
dances are generally performed by men individually,
though sometimes two or even more will unite, and occa-
sionaUy a man will lead one or more women through the
dance, the man and the woman next him holding the oppo-
site ends ol a^ handkerchief. . The movements differ in
various localities, but in general consist of a series of
attitudes, poses and slow gyrations, accompanied at times
with snapping the fingers or shouts. In the cities the
society circles have taken up mixed dances, waltzes, two-
steps, etc., which under the existing social conditions is
a change not wholly desirable or beneficial.

The Greeks are by nature courteous, polite and hos-
pitable. Strangers are regarded with frank curiosity
and are subjected to all sorts of personal inquiries, in
regard to age, business, destination, marital condition and
a host of other topics. But they are welcomed, and kindly
treated. A Greek will gladly give up a whole day to the
entertainment of a stranger in whom he is interested.
The Greek language contains many graceful salutations
and greetings. One of them, **o»pumrc," corresponding to
the Turkish, ^^bouyurenes," would add much to the English
language if it, or something of the same significance,
could be adopted. It has a wide variety of meanings,
such as **welcome," **help yourself," "sit down,*' "glad to
see you," ^^g your pardon," etc., but in general it means
that you are to make yourself at home and have anything
that you want. Unfortunately, in regions especially sub-

GREEK IMMIGRATION

ject to tourist yisitation, this natural hospitality has been
brought into conflict with the equaUy natural commercial
spirit, and has lost much of its charm. But outside of
those classes whose business is serving travelers, a Greek
who has rendered some slight service will, with refreshing
frequency, refuse a tip.

The commercial spirit and shrewd business ability are
very characteristic of the modem Greeks. As already
remarked, they are the business men of the Levant. They
are successful traders wherever they go, particularly if
they are dealing with people of somewhat less alert minds.
Unhappily this love of trade frequently develops into a
decidedly mercenary spirit. If the love of money is a
root of all evil we have not far to seek for the cause of
many of the vices which alFect the Greek nation. A five
minutes' conversation between two Greeks is almost certain
to touch, first or last, upon money matters. Unfortu-
nately also, this commercial spirit is all too frequently
coupled with commercial dishonesty. Illustrations of this
will come up later. It has probably done more than any
other one thing to counteract the natural energy, enter-
prise and ability of the nation, and impede the industrial
progress of Greece.

In general, dishonesty is one of the most serious faults
of the race. It expresses itself in lying, and in business
and political untrustworthiness, not so often in actual
theft. Commercial travelers complain of the readiness
with which Greek business men will break a contract, if
better terms are subsequently offered from another source.
The universality of the habit of lying is something which
impresses almost every traveler, and one is at first almost
inclined to think that the Greek will lie in preference to

NATIONAL CHARACTER

telling the truth, even when there is no question of advan-
tage. But this is an injustice. The fact is, not so much
that the Greek is a liar, as that he is not a truth teller.
The American youth is trained from infancy to the belief
that whatever happens the truth must be told. The Greek
feels that if any important matter is at stake. Such as
his own personal gain, or the good name of the race, truth
is subsidiary, and must be sacrificed to greater ends.
But the result is that it is far from safe to put too much
confidence in the statements or promises of the average
Greek, where there is the slightest chance of any persona]
interest being at stake.

So in business dealings the principle of caveat emptor
certainly prevails. A shopkeeper will leave half his stock
exposed and unguarded without the slightest fear, and
a peddler has no hesitation in letting his donkey get out
of sight two or three comers ahead of him. He knows
that his goods wiU not be molested. But when it comes
to actual trade, then it is a contest of wits, without any
compunction if a serious advantage is taken of ignorance
or lack of ability.

This practice of haggling over a bargain, which it must
be said seems to be on the decline, is partly due to a love
of play, a sort of childishness, which is a prominent feature
of the Greek character. Trade is regarded as a form of
sport and you win the admiration rather than the ill will
of your opponent if you get the better of him. This fond-
ness of the Greek for making a game of everything has
been well described by Benj. Ide Wheeler.* He is writing
especially in regard to the prospects of the Greek nation

*The Modem Greek as a Fighting Man, Benj. Ide Wheeler, North
American Review, 164:609.

GREEK IMMIGRATION

in the approaching war with Turkey ( 1897) . He remarks
that war was always a form of sport among the Greeks,
and a battle was a sort of game. He predicted that as
long as the war bore the character of a hunt with a large
element of chance, adventure, excitement and individual
achievement the Greeks would prove themselves good
soldiers. But as soon as it settled down to long hard
campaigns, dull delays, and systematic movements en
masse^ the results would not be so favorable, for the Greek
hates plodding, and does not submit readily to discipline
or authority. ^*As long as war presents some reasonable
element of sport, a chance of winning, a fair opportunity
for exercise of the wits, features of surprise and shifting
interest, the Greek will stay by and be an admirable
soldier, but any application of the one-price system — the
mechanical routine of drill, the monotonous life of the
camp, the mechanism of march and retreat — will set his
war fervor sorely to the test.*'

The Greek's love of authority manifests itself on
frequent occasions, and is one of the principal obstacles
in the way of united effort in any direction of national
interest. The Greek hates to submit to the control or
direction of any one, especially one of his own race. But
clothe him with a little authority and he feels fairly in his
element. In his fondness for uniform caps he almost equals
the Grerman. Even the street car conductor or the watch-
man at a grade crossing feels a tremendous sense of his
own importance and asserts it with a great deal of flourish.
This probably accounts in part for the reckless way in
which carriage drivers urge their horses through the most
crowded streets of the cities without the slightest apparent
consideration for pedestrians. Being in possession of a

2»

NATIONAL CHARACTER

certain sort of superiority, they see no reason why they
should not make the most of it. There is also no consider-
ation for the feelings of the horse, for the Greek is very
harsh in his treatment of animals. One who knows them
well says that it is perfectly safe to say that they are the
most cruel people to animals in the world. This is, how-
ever, probably something of an exaggeration, for one does
not see the open and universal abuse of animals on the
street which is so familiar and so depressing in Naples,
for instance. Nevertheless, there is plenty of room for
improvement among the Greeks. One day in the environs
of Athens I saw a man entertaining himself and a couple
of children in the following way. He had a crow, which
for some reason had lost the power of flight, and was hold-
ing it in the air for a dog to jump at. He would allow
the dog just to get his teeth over some of the feathers and
then would jerk the bird away. After doing this a few
times, he would put the crow on the ground and let it
hobble away, holding the dog in the meantime, until the
crow was twenty or thirty feet away. Then he would
loose the animal and allow it to catch the bird, rescuing
the latter however before it was killed in order that the
whole process might be repeated. All three seemed to be
enjoying the sport immensely and manifested not the least
sense of shame. When the bird finally expired under the
treatment the only apparent regret was that the pastime
was ended.

The public dog catcher in Athens makes use of a pair
of powerful steel pincers, perhaps twelve feet long, with
which he seizes the dog across the ribs, fairly crushing
them with the pressure. The poor victim is then dragged
after him down the street, shrieking with agony, and

GREEK IMMIGRATION

nobody thinks anything of it. People have a sort of
superstitious dislike of killing kittens, but will leave a new-
bom litter of them out to starve in a cold comer without
the least compunction. This absence of sympathy between
man and the dumb animals has been cited by one shrewd
observer as one of the great causes of the notorious weak-
ness of the Greek cavalry.

Probably the most pervasive and serious vice of
the people is gambling. The element of chance has an
immense attraction for the Greek, and is manifested in
many ways. Lotteries flourish everywhere. A common
advertisement in coffee-houses, groceries, etc., all over the
kingdom is of a national lottery for the support of the
fleet and the maintenance of the antiquities. On the
occasion of religious festivals and other gatherings of
the people, gambling games are much in evidence. They
vary in type and in simplicity. One of the most obvious
that I have seen consisted of an eight-sided top spun in
a soup plate. The sides were numbered from one t^ eight
and the player was invited to bet a ^^pendara'^^ on the
number of the side which he picked as the one/on which
the top would come to rest. If he won he received five
^^pendaras." Anyone could see that the ^^dealer" stood
eight chances of winning to the player's five, and appar-
ently most of them did, for the game was not largely
patronized. This passion for gambling infests every
phase of Greek Uf e to such an extent as to lead travelers
frequently to express themselves in some such terms as
the following:

^*It seems to be the irony of fate that a country with
the traditions and associations of Greece should today be
possessed and governed by a people whose one national

NATIONAL CHARACTER

instinct is gambling, and who while talking of the
aspirations of Hellenism, occupy their time in political
intrigue."*

The Greek is much inclined to be indolent, egotistical,
vain and superficial. While he displays great enterprise
in business ventures, nevertheless his highest ambition is
to acquire sufficient means so that he can spend the last
years of his life sitting in idleness in the dubs and coiFee-
houses, discussing politics and the thousand and one trivial
things that a Greek can find to occupy his mind. This
coffee-house habit is one of the greatest drawbacks to
national progress. At all hours of the day these resorts
are full of men, idling away their time drinking coffee,
smoking, playing cards and talking. It is a harmless
enough pastime in itself and has social features which
would commend it if engaged in with moderation. But
the amount of time that is absolutely frittered away in
this fashion would accomplish great things for the nation
if applied to some useful purpose. The Greek loves to
keep up the appearance of prosperity and leisure. In
Patras and Athens there is a numerous class of so-called
^lack-coats," young men of uncertain occupation, who
are much in evidence in the coffee-houses and public
squares, appearing faultlessly attired and ostensibly
enjoying an important and lucrative business, though
in point of fact, as some one has remarked, *^they may
not have two francs to jingle together in their pockets."
It IS said on good authority that the business buildings
which pay the highest rent are the coffee-houses, and the
next are the barber-shops.

* The Condiict and Present Condition of Greece^ Walter B. Harris,
BUiekwoo^s, 109t988.

GREEK IMMIGRATION

Love of glory is a prominent feature of the national
character. There is nothing that pleases the typical
Greek more than to be the center of attraction — to be
in the limelight. Mr. Wheeler says, **It was an old say-
ing of the other Greeks that the Athenians rowed well
when coming into the harbor/* and the same might be
truly said of the whole nation today. A Greek proprietor
of a pool hall in Omaha told me that he was planning to
spend $200 or $800 in company with another young man
in playing Achilles at the Ak-Sar-Ben festival in the fall
of 1908. The following anecdote illustrates this point
nicely, as well as several other phases of Greek character.
In front of one of the steamship offices in Patras I was
talking with one of the agents (a Greek) and a young
man who was about to start for America. The boy had
been in the United States before and I asked him if he
knew English. He replied, *^Just a little," whereupon
the agent laughed and remarked to the boy, *^You say
that to him, but if / had asked you, you would have said,
*0h, yes, I know the language perfectly.* " Then turning
to me he continued: ^*You see, the Greek is a great lover
of glory, and about things that do no harm, he lies
valiantly. If there is anything at stake, he will tell the
truth, but about his own accomplishments and achieve-
ments he will exaggerate to an unlimited extent." There
is no better way of expressing this element of character
than to adopt the slang phrase, and say that the Greeks
are a nation of '^grandstand players."

This love of display is coupled with great confidence
in one's own abilities and readiness to undertake any sort
of a project. This is an important element in Greek
character and is so well illustrated by the course of the

NATIONAL CHARACTER

War of 1897 that we are justified in giving a brief space
to the history of that conflict. The boundary line between
Greece and European Turkey has always been a tender
subject, and frequent alterations in this arbitrary line by
the European powers, toward the end of the nineteenth
century, had irritated Greece to the point where only a
slight incentive was needed to cause her to rise in protest.
This was furnished by the action of Turkey in promul-
gating massacres in Crete which aroused the keenest
resentment on the part of the Greeks. By the middle of
February, 1897, Crete was occupied by a Greek military
force. Cretan refugees flocked to Athens and were joined
by hosts of peasants, swarming in from the hills. The
enthusiasm for war was intense. ^^Znjria o ir<$Xc/Ao«" was
scribbled with chalk on walls all over the city. Mobs
daily besieged the palace demanding that war be declared
at once. In point of fact the country was absolutely in
no condition to declare war. The army was poorly
ofBcered, undrilled, inadequately equipped with arms and
ammunition, and altogether very far from being an
efficient war machine. But nobody paid any attention to
this. Greece had been insulted and must be avenged.
There was undoubtedly much of true patriotism in the
outcry. But there was also much of bombast. Those
who shouted the loudest for war were the ones who
made the most strenuous efForts to avoid enlistment. But
the clamor continued with increased vehemence, and the
great throngs before the palace insisted that war be
declared or that the king abdicate and the ministry resign.
Meanwhile the secret societies, particularly the powerful
Ethnike Hetairia, were busy and encouraged outbreaks
on the frontier, which tended to force the king's hand.

GREEK IMMIGRATION

He finally felt the irresistibility of the pressure and
yielded, and war was declared.

Then followed a series of events which puzzled observers
and made the contemporary magazine articles on the sub-
ject very curious, contradictory, and somewhat amusing
reading. There were a number of conflicts in the north
of Greece. The Greek soldiers fell far short of the stand-
ard which they had established for themselves in the war
of independence. The battles were described as a series
of panics, and the officers scathingly condemned for the
way in which they deserted the soldiers after a defeat and
left them to pursue their retreat as best they could. The
Greek fleet was much superior to the Turkish, and nobody
could understand why the Turkish military trains were
allowed to pass unmolested along the Macedonian railway,
within easy range of the coast, where a single Greek battle-
ship might have completely annihilated both the trains
and the railroad. On the whole, the Turks got the best
of the conflicts. But when they apparently had the sit-
uation in their hands they failed to press their advantage,
and, seemingly by the influence of the powers, peace was
arranged.

In explanation of these puzzling events, the following
statement was given me by a gentleman in Greece who is
thoroughly intimate with all Greek afFairs, social and
political, and whose authority is unquestionable. The
Greek people were sincere in their rage against Turkey
and in their zeal for war. When it became evident that
the king would be forced either to declare war or to abdi-
cate, the powers of Europe saw that if the work of the
past thirty years was not to be wholly undone, some
action must be taken at once. Accordingly, the British

NATIONAL CHARACTER

minister, the Greek miniBter, the Turkish minister and
perhaps one or two others got together and planned out
the whole war beforehand. The battles, attacks and
retreats were all arranged in advance. The fighting was
planned in such a way as to cause the least possible blood-
shed on both sides, while giving the people a chance to
exhaust some of their war fervor. The Greek fleet was
allowed to bombard a small village near the coast but was
not permitted to molest any of the Turkish trains. The
Turkish government on its part agreed to withdraw its
troops from Crete and cede Thessaly to Greece.

It is an interesting story from a historical point of
view, but its importance to us at present is in the side-
light which it throws on the Greek character. It all
turned out as was anticipated. The populace very soon
lost its warlike enthusiasm. Those who had been the
keenest for hostilities were the slowest to take up the
burdens of the conflict. There is considerable justification
for statements Uke the following, which occur frequently
in the contemporary history of the war.

**The national vice of windy enthusiasm for great ends,
combined with unwillingness to perform the solid labors
by which alone these can be secured, has at last brought
despair into the hearts of the best Greeks at home and
abroad."*

The people of Athens were accused of showing a callous
indifference to the results of the war.

**Frantic at first with the war fever, they have
done but little either for the army, the wounded or the
refugees.'' t

* The Wredc of Greece, Henry Nornum. Serihntf^i, 99i S99.
fThe Condiict and Present Condition of Greece, Walter B. Harris,
BlaekwoodPi, 109:986.

GREEK IMMIGRATION

Many writers speak of the extremely democratic char-
acter of the Greeks. This is perhaps tme in a political
waj ; it is not in a social way- There is a well-developed
sense of the distinctions between the social grades. Many
times I have heard Greeks speak in a sneering way of the
low-class Greeks who were the first to come to this country
and of the bad impression which they have ^ven the nation
in the minds of American people.

The Greek is passionately fond of politics and ambitious
for political position. Mr. J. Irving Manatt speaks as
follows of politics in that country :

"Instead of party government Greece groans under
'boss' government." The spoils system flourishes. The
government is a. whirligig. "The life of a Greek ministry
averages a little more than ten months." *

After knowing the Greeks for some time one is strongly
tempted to say that one of the greatest curses of the
modem nation is its inheritance from a glorious past.
The Greek realizes well how he suffers in comparison with
his predecessors, but seems to feel that past greatness
atones and compensates for present failures. Greece
fcets that Europe and civilization in general owe her a
debt of gratitude and support in return for the contribu-
titms made by the inhabitants of the country two thou-
sand and more years ago. She has been styled, "the
spoiled child of Europe." Every effort is made to estab-
'•-'■ *^e close connection between the modem and the
: nation, and the assumption is that if this can be
any present shortcomings are of slight moment,
wndous project has just been launched, that of

NATIONAL CHARACTER

compiling a ^^Historical Lexicon of the Greek language,
from its earliest use to the present time," which is to con-
tain every word ever pronounced by Greek mouths, and
is expected to represent the *%istorical evolution of the
Greek nation and its racial unity." This is perhaps a
very commendable undertaking in itself, but if the energy
and money which it will entail could be expended on a
serious endeavor to conquer some of the problems of the
modem nation, the final benefit would be vastly greater.
In fact, one cannot help feeling that if the modem Greek
could cut himself loose from all sense of a glorious an-
cestry — ^including such wild dreams as the "grand idea"
of possessing the whole Turkish Empire — and could bring
himself to face the responsibility of the improvement of
present conditions, and to take up the burden of citizen-
ship with a spirit of serious independence, it would mean
much for the progress of the country.

Turning to some of the more pleasing aspects of Greek
character, we note first of all a genuine patriotism, mani-
festing itself in a variety of ways. It is perhaps mis-
guided at times but it is almost always sincere. If some of
the wealthy men who devote large sums of money to the
erection of costly public buildings, expositions and stadia
would turn their attention to some of the more practical
and humble needs of the country, which perhaps have less
of personal glory connected with them, it would be a great
gain. Greece could well use large sums of money in the
establishment and maintenance of agricultural and tech-
nical schools, in the improvement of her roads, in the
betterment of some of her harbors, or in the operation,
perhaps for a time at a loss, of a large woolen mill.
Nevertheless the spirit which animates the gifts which have

GREEK IMMIGRATION

Amfi io nmch to beaatify Atliens is truly admiraUe.
During the year 1905, wealthy Greeks residiiig abroad
(tpiitributed the following sums of money for the pnrpoaes

flttvignated : *

Myngrof Hospital for Venereal Diseases l,SOOflOO dfadi.t
MsrsscUeios Normal School 900,000 dradi.
Msrssehleios Commercial Academy 800,000 dradi.
Aigeoeton Gjneooiogical and Nervous Dis-
eases clinic 500,000 drach.
Home for the Aged of Athens 1,500,000 drach.

This feeling of patriotism is especially evident when the
Greek is in a foreign land. Find him there and tell him
that you have been in his country and his heart sweUs with
a genuine emotion. ^^Did you go to Athens?^ is the
almost invariable query. ^^Isn't it a beautiful city? And
the palace there? ** The tie between the absent Greek and
hU home fillage is always a very close one.

Life in Greece is essentially an outdoor life. It does not
take the form of athletics to nearly the same extent as in
Kngland or America. The Greek youths have few out-
door games, aside from marbles, kites and the like. But
the Greek loves to sit out in the open air. In fine weather
the public squares of the cities are closely dotted with
tablet, belonging to the neighboring coffee-houses. One
of the most charming features of Greek social life is the
w^pifiiha or coffee-gardens, where one may sit and sip the
fragrant beverage or munch a sweetmeat, surrounded by
orange and lemon trees, with his ears filled with the sound
of the clear water running in the irrigating ditches on

* Rcportf oi Consul-General George W. Horton, Athens.

t Drseb. or dr., the drachma, equlyalent to aboat 9^19 American.

TVPtCAL DWELLINGS

• ft

• • •.

• ••

• _ •

r •

• • ••
•• •

.ft./.

••

NATIONAL CHARACTER

every hand. The Greek is very fond of sweetmeats and
knows how to make them in a variety of delicious forms.

Unless his temper is aroused the Greek is generally
light-hearted, buoyant and good-natured. He has a fine
sense of humor in spite of some extraordinary statements
to the contrary made by travelers.* His humor is not
always of the daintiest but it has a flavor of its own which
is quite distinctive. The following anecdote serves as a
very good iUustration. It must be borne in mind that
every male Greek wears a mustache, and the first evidences
of down on the Up (which comes quite early) are welcomed
by the Greek boy as a sign of approaching manhood. A
clean-shaven American traveler of about thirty was having
his shoes shined by a clever little bootblack in Athens, in
the meanwhile good-naturedly chaffing him and a grizzled
laborer who stood near. The conversation turned to the
subject of weather and the laborer asked, *^Do you have
as cold weather as this in America? " **Ohy yes, much
colder," replied the stranger. Whereupon the bootblack
added, ^*In American it is so cold that it freezes your
mustache, isn't it? and that is why you shave it ofF."

One point on which practically all travelers agree is the
marked temperance of the Greeks, and this is indeed one
of their most commendable characteristics. Of course the
drinking of light wines is a universal practice, and the
use of beer is becoming more and more common. But
these beverages are seldom taken in excess, and the
stronger liquors are rarely used except in the artificial
societies of the cities. Drunkenness occasionally occurs,

*Mr. Mahaflfjr (Monasteries and Religion in Greece, Chantauqman,
9:1) speaks of the curious solemnity and seriousness of the nation,
'^ou will not hear a Joke in a generation in Greece."

GREEK IMMIGRATION

to be sure, but it is sporadic, not habitual. During a five-
weeks' trip through the Greek mainland I recall seeing
only two men who gave evidence of being intoxicated.

Another matter upon which there is remarkable una-
nimity among observers is the social purity of the Gi^ek
people. It is to be feared, however, that there is some
exaggeration about these statements. The matter of the
sexual morality of a race is naturally one of the most
difficult things to determine. Statistical proof of any
proposition is almost impossible to obtain. The inves-
tigator is forced to rely on the personal opinions of those
who are intimately familiar with the people in question,
supplemented by such observations as he may be able to
carry out. The following sketch of the moral conditions
of the Greek people is based on such grounds. Certain
informants to whose opinions especial weight has been
given are Protestant Greeks, whose separation from the
orthodox religion enables them to look upon their race
i^-ith a degree of impartiality, and yet whose patriotism
will prevent them from being unjust to their countrymen,
and whose character makes their statements worthy of
every confidence.

In the interior and rural districts it is undoubtedly true
that the moral status is far from bad. Greek women are
guarded very carefully by the male members of their
families, and if a girl is wronged, her father, brother, or
other male relative immediately takes up the issue, and it
is an understood thing that the betrayer shall either be
compelled to marry the girl, or be killed. Consequently
there is no great amount of actual immorality between
the sexes, though of course intrigues are not unknown.
On the other hand the mental attitude of the men toward

NATIONAL CHARACTER

these matters is not always elevated, and their passions
find frequent expression in such vices as sodomy.

When we turn to the large cities, however, we find a
much less encouraging state of affairs. In Athens and
Patras the conditions are said to be exceedingly deplor-
able. This state of affairs, especiaUy in Athens, is largely
attributed to French influence, and in both of the above-
named cities the women of questionable character are
almost whoUy foreigners. In many ways the moral tone
of fashionable society in these cities is very low.

If we turn to Turkey we find the conditions even worse.
There is the same distinction in favor of the interior and
rural districts. But in Smyrna conditions among the
Greeks could hardly be worse. The actual details are too
revolting for discussion, but an idea of the matter may be
gained from the fact that a well-known, able and success-
ful Scotch doctor felt compeUed to leave the city because,
apart from the mission circles, he could not find a decent
social atmosphere in which to bring up his family of chil-
dren. Another indication is furnished by the practically
universal belief among the young men of the city that no
boy can Uve to grow up to manhood without engaging in
sexual indulgence.

The greatest curse of Greek family life is the wretched
dowry system which is saddled on the country, and saps all
the romance out of the marital relation. No young man
ever thinks of marrying a girl who is not provided with a
satisfactory dowry, and the marriage contract amounts
practically to the purchase of the bridegroom. The
principal incentive for the industry of the men of the
country is to secure enough money to make good matches
for their daughters and sisters. In this respect the young

GREEK IMMIGRATION

men show a reaUy admirable deyotion to their sisters. It
is quite an exceptional thing for a Greek to think of enter-
ing the wedded state himself until all his sisters are mar-
ried. The following illustration will show how ilioroug^y
this idea is ingrained in the Greek thought.

I called one day on an officer of the Greek army, living
in Athens, to whom I had a letter. He was away on duty,
but I was received by two women of his family. In the
course of the conversation, with characteristic curiosity,
they asked concerning my family. Being informed that
I had no sisters they remarked, ^'Ah! It's better so."
**Why is that?" I inquired. "Then you don't have to
gather together money to marry them off."

In a marriage contracted in this way there will nat-
urally be little of mutual affection and regard, at least to
start with. In the way of comradeship and true com-
munion the Greek bridegroom expects little and so is not
disappointed. The wife looks after the household and
bears the children, usually a goodly number, and is not
expected to enter particularly into the varied interests
of her husband. This explains the readiness with which
a Greek mil leave his wife and start out for a residence
of five or ten years in America. There is very little social
companionship among the young people of different sexes.

Greece has a well-developed educational system. There
are four grades of schools: the common, four years
(sometimes six years, in which case the graduate is excused
from the first two years of the following grade) ; Hellenic
schools, three years; gymnasia, four years; university,
four years. Upon the completion of the university course
the student is a candidate for the doctor's degree. Educa-
tion is free and compulsory in the common schools. In

NATIONAL CHARACTER

the following grades the yearly tuition is respectively,
ten drachmas, twenty drachmas and one hundred and
fifty drachmas. By law, parents are held responsible
for the attendance of their boys and girls at the conmion
schools, subject to a fine, but as my informant, the libra-
rian of the Council, remarked, *^The law is not always
appUed." Women have now begun to enter the univer-
sity. These schools are all supported at public expense,
the common schools by the municipalities, the others by
the royal government. Every village is supposed to have
at least its common school, and the Greeks are on the whole
a well-educated people. In fact, in some respects they
are sadly over-educated. There are more doctors and
lawyers than the diminutive country knows what to do with.

CHAPTER III

Helioion and Language

THROUGHOUT the whole checkered history of the
Greek race from the beginiuDg of the Christian era
to the War of Independence there have been two great
unifying factors, without which the nation would probably
have been dispersed and absorbed long ago. These are
the n ationa l religion and the natio nal la nguage.

The Greek church has a more authentic and unbroken

history than the Roman Catholic church. It was well

estabhshed in the Levant at the time of the Council of

Nice, and the Roman church had used the Greek language

and been subservient to the Greek church. After the

death of Constantine, the city which he had founded

became the recognized head of the Christian church, and

in the reign of Justinian, magnificent and costly churches

were erected all over Constantinople. The chief of these

was St. Sophia, dedicated Christmas day, 538. For the

next six centuries Constantinople successfully resisted the

attacks of the Mohammedan Saracens. During this

period the separation of the eastern and western churches

took place. The Roman popes laid claim to a direct apos-

from St. Peter. The power of Rome grew

iction of the leading eastern churches by

It altered the Nicene creed, and forbade

larry. "Its abject worship of images and

^orance, its dependence on the western

pretension to a place above all the other

n honor and power, naturally excited the

RELIGION AND LANGUAGE

disapprobation and fear of its eastern brethren; and at
length Antioch and Alexandria, Jerusalem and Constanti-
nople, united in displacing forever from his place in the
Christian church the heretical and ambitious Bishop of
Rome."* The final separation took place in 1064.

During the succeeding years when the territory of the
eastern church was devastated by the Turks, the power
of Rome increased still more. In fact, it is doubtful if
the eastern branch of the church would have survived that
dark period if that form of Christianity had not been
adopted by Russia, whose career as a Christian nation
dates from the year 1000. Her rulers were converted by
pageantry and diplomacy as much as by convincing argu-
ments. She copied closely the Greek ritual and church
buildings. In 1587 Moscow took the place of Rome in
the eyes of the eastern church as the fifth patriarchate.
In the long and bloody conflict with the Romish Jesuits
the Russian church finally prevailed, and preserved a form
of religion which the Greek nation recognized and claimed
as its own when its independence was established.

The Greek church is the only one which has consistently
followed the decrees of the Council of Nice. The worship
of the Virgin Mary is not predominant, an4 its clergy are
married, though its monks are not. In doctrine the Greek
church differs somewhat from the Roman.' It accepts the
Holy Trinity, but the Holy Spirit is assumed to proceed
from the Father only. The doctrine of redemption is
Scriptural. There must be works with faith. There are
no indulgences, and no purgatory, but an ^^intermediate
state of the departed" in which they remain until the

*The Greek Qinrch, Eugene Lawrence, Harper^i Monthhf, 45:406,
from which much of this historical review is taken.

GREEK IMMIGRATION

resurrection. Its ritual approaches that of Rome. The
sacraments are Marriage, Confirmation, Extreme Unc-
tion, Ordination, Penance, Baptism and the Lord's
Supper. Infants are baptized on the eighth day by trine
immersion. It holds to transubstantiation, but the host
does not receive the same adoration as in the Roman
church. Penance, auricular confession and absolution
are regarded as very fundamental. The priest must know
what he is absolving.

The ritual is even more laborious than the Roman.
There are many fasts, the principal ones being Lent, from
Whitsuntide to St. Peter's day, from the 6th to the
15th of August, and forty days before Christmas. The
monasteries have others. The regulations concerning
these fasts are rather complicated. In the main they
involve the giving up of meat, and of fish except on certain
days. No olive oil is to be used in cooking. These fasts
are observed with a good deal of strictness and work con-
siderable hardship on the people of moderate means. But
the well-to-do have many means of avoiding any dis-
comfort. Instead of olive oil, sesame oil is used in cook-
ing, and caviar, shell-fish, etc., take the place of meat. In
fact, in many cases, the fast food is more tasteful and
pleasing than the regular diet. If a Greek is questioned
in regard to the importance of fasting, he is likely to say,
"Oh, it is very healthy to clean out your system by leaving
off meat once in a while," and however faulty the argument
may be from a theological point of view, there is a good
deal of truth in it, for the wealthy Greeks eat altogether
too much meat regularly.

One of the chief points of difference between the eastern
and the western churches was in the matter of images.

RELIGION AND LANGUAGE

The Greek branch maintained that the worship of statues
or images was idolatry. But they substituted pictures
for the images, and pictures (eikons) still hold a very
important place in the worship of the Greek church.
These are representations of various saints, and the
common justification for their use is that the contempla-
tion of them calls up the worthy lives of those whom they
represent, and leads to emulation of their good qualities.
The pictures are often executed in silver, in high relief,
but the faces and often the hands are made flat, which
keeps them from being images.

Church buildings are exceedingly numerous in Greece.
They are of all sizes and are scattered in all sorts of
places, from the largest cities to some out-of-the-way nook
of country, where there is perhaps no other building in
sight. The modern Orthodox Greek church building is
usually patterned on the Byzantine type of architecture.
The interior decoration differs in elaborateness with the
importance of the church and the wealth of the congrega-
tion, but an important feature is always the pictures.
Regular services are held on Sundays and holidays, but
the churches are usually kept open on week days for the
devotions of individuals. The regular service consists
largely in the reading of the Scriptures, while the wor-
shipers come in and remain as long as they feel moved to,
passing around the church, kissing, the pictures and
making the sign of the cross. The services are read in
the ancient language and in an indistinct, singsong tone,
so that the people get absolutely no meaning out of the
reading. The priests discourage and prevent, as far as
possible, the circulation and reading of the Scriptures, and
as a residt the great mass of the common people are

GREEK IMMIGRATION

extremely ignorant as to the real truths and teachings of
the Christian doctrine.

Nevertheless, to the form of his religion the Greek is
decidedly loyal. A Greek is bom to his religion just as
he is to his nationality. It would be hard to find one who
would not profess to be a Christian. Church services are
quite well attended and when a Greek passes an isolated
chapel he very often enters and remains a moment, paying
his respects to the pictures contained therein. The sign
of the cross is habitually made before eating and on pass-
ing a church or chapel. The houses of devout Greeks
each contain a sacred picture with an olive oil lamp always
burning in front of it. The Greek insists positively on
the truth of his form of faith, and will defend stoutly
dogmas which he does not in the least comprehend. Un-
fortunately, as would be expected under such conditions,
there is very slight connection between religion and
morality, or ethical living. A man may be a very good
Christian, and a very bad man — bad, at least, according
to the views of an outsider. When the form of religion
has been observed, a man is free to go out and do much
as he pleases, to lie, cheat and oppress to his heart's
content. Benjamin Ide Wheeler in the article above
referred to (see page 25) says that while patriotism keeps
the Greek loyal to his church, **her teachings are practi-
cally of slight importance to him." There is a good deal
of superstition still existent in the Greek church, much of
it connected with the ancient pagan religions.* A great
deal of religious importance attaches to certain places and

*A very interesting account of this matter may be found in an
article by P. d'Estoumelles, entitled, ^'Ibe Superstitiona of Modern
Greece," in the Century Magazine, 11 1 696,

RELIGION AND LANGUAGE

days. Nearly every day in the calendar is some saint's
day, and the observance of it depends on the importance
of the sainty or the number of people who are named after
him. The "name-day" is customarily observed instead of
the birthday. On the Galata bridge in Constantinople
there used to be an old Jewish guide whose invariable
greeting as he walked up behind the stranger was : "Grood
morning, sir. This is a fine day, sir. This is a Greek
holiday, sir." He was fairly safe in the statement.

Much has been written on both sides in regard to the
character of the Greek clergy. In point of fact, the
character of the priesthood varies with the character of
the individual priest. There is but little check on them.
Many of them accordingly are earnest, upright and
sincere. Some of them are lazy, hypocritical and vicious.

One of the most scathing attacks ever made on the
Greek church, as well as on numerous other phases of
Greek life and society, is found in a book in modem Greek
from the pen of Andrew Lascaris, called "The Mysteries
of Cephalonia." A review of this book may be found in
the Westminster Review, 67 : 228. It was published some
time ago (1856) so that there has at least been room for
improvement since. The author says that the Orthodox
churchmen have three kinds of religious services (quoting
from the Review) : "One which they profess and do not
perform ; one which they perform and do not profess ; and
one which they both profess and perform. The first is
the service of Christ, the second that of the devil, and the
third that of the belly." There is much more of the same
tenor which need not be quoted. The author was himself
a native of the island in question, which he was compelled
to leave as a result of the publication of his book. The

GREEK IMMIGRATION

only answer, however, to his charges was from high church
authority and consisted in abuse and anathema rather
than in argument.

The monasteries are an important feature in the modem
Greek religion. There are several very ancient and
famous ones, prominent among them the one at Meteora.
This is situated on a rock over 800 feet high and the
only way to reach it is to be pulled up by a rope and net.
But there are a large number of minor ones scattered all
through the kingdom. The denizens, who are of two
classes, monks and lay brethren, spend their time in reli-
gious exercises, and in tilling the soil and tending the herds.
There is always a chapel in connection, in which services
are held, and the monks frequently go out and hold services
in neighboring churches. Boys are devoted to a monastic
life by their parents, and commence their training in early
life.

Another characteristic feature of this form of Chris-
tianity is the religious festivals or jraviiyvpta. These are
held in certain places on certain specified days. The
people gather early in the morning, and a religious ser-
vice is held. The most obvious part of this consists in
passing a contribution plate and sprinkling the donors
with holy water from a small bottle, resembling those
used^by barbers. This ceremony is soon over and the rest
of the day is given up to enjoyment, singing, dancing
and drinking. These pursuits frequently become very
boisterous and revolvers shot into the air add zest to the
revelry. On one occasion I saw the priest himself enter
fully into the spirit of the day, singing, drinking and
shooting off revolvers. By night he was so drunk that it
took four men to get him home. The people seemed just

MONK AND ACOLVTE

« k

• • »•

•• •

• • •■

• •

RELIGION AND LANGUAGE

a trifle disturbed, but remarked: ^'Never mind. Just once
a year. What harm does it do?"

One of the prettiest of these festivals is that held at
Megara on the first Tuesday after Easter. Early in the
morning the people gather from the villages all around,
attired in their holiday costumes, the men in short, heavily
pleated white kilts, the girls in brightly colored dresses
with embroidered aprons and their dowries in the form
of coins sewed into caps on their foreheads, or hung
around their necks. The main dance of the occasion is
performed by the girls. It is called the ^Hrata" and is
supposed to represent the movement of drawing in the nets
at the seashore. Other groups, sometimes containing both
men and women, perform the customary folk dances.

Easter is a very important season with the Greeks^
Another beautiful celebration held in connection with it
is that observed in Athens on the eve of Easter Sunday,
at the Metropolitan Church. By twelve o'clock the square
in front of the church and the streets leading into it for
some distance are packed with people. Each holds in his
hand an unlighted candle and awaits the coming of the
priest. At midnight he appears bearing in his hand a
lighted candle. Those nearest him light their candles
from his and pass the flame on to others, until in an incred-
ibly short time the whole square is blazing as it were with
a myriad of tiny stars. Then the assembly breaks up, and
the people go home, singing "Kyrie Eleison," and express-
ing their joy in more noisy ways by means of revolvers
and firecrackers.

Summing up the modem Greek religion, then, it may be
said that it consists mainly in formalism. Many of the
clergy and the great mass of the common people are

GREEK IMMIGRATION

denBely ignorant concerning the true nature of the teach-
ings of Christ. There is but slight connection between
religion and everyday life. NeverthelesSy on account of
the national character of the religion the Greeks are very
loyal to it, and it forms an important part of the consti-
tution of every Greek conmiunity.

The second of the great unifying factors mentioned
above is the language. There can be no doubt that this
has been of great value in keeping up race feeling, and
hence race continuity, among the Greeks scattered all
through the east Mediterranean countries. But many
writers have gone further and have taken the similarity
of the ancient and modem languages as a proof of the
physical identity of race between the ancient and modem
peoples. The erroneous nature of this sort of reasoning
becomes very evident on the careful study of such a book
as Ripley's Races of Europe. As demonstrated in this
work, a language may remain but slightly changed, while
the racial stock of the people which uses it is gradually
but completely altered. This very process may be seen
going on in the United States. In spite of all the change
which has come in the ethnic constitution of the American
people, it would be hard to find a single important change
in the English language as spoken in the United States
which is due to the admixture of foreign blood. This
is because the infiltration of alien elements has been
gradual. Of course there are sections of the country,
like the "Dutch" regions of Pennsylvania, where large
groups of foreign people, living in comparative isolation,
speak a modified English, or a mixture of English and
some other language. And if such a city as New York,
which contains large colonies of various foreign peoples

(H)

RELIGION AND LANGUAGE

where English is ahnost unheard, were to be shut off from
communication with the rest of the United States and at
the same time was allowed to receive the same foreign con-
tingents year by year, it would be hard to guess what sort
of a language would eventually result. But if a gradual
immigration from various foreign lands were to continue
for a few generations, the immigrants being slowly and
evenly diffused throughout the whole country, until the
Anglo-Saxon blood of the American people should become
as a drop in the bucket, it is very doubtfid if any
appreciable alteration in the English language would be
produced thereby.

There is still another possible case — ^when a conquering
nation holds dominion over another. Then we may expect
to find many words transferred from one language to the
other in both directions. In the case of Greek, the danger
of using language as a test of race is increased by the fact
that within recent years a strong effort has been made to
bring the modem language artificially into closer con-
formity with the ancient.

In point of fact it is hardly correct to speak of a
modem Greek language, for there are two grades of
modem Greek, so distinct as almost to be called separate
languages. For convenience sake they may be distin-
guished as **high Greek" and "low Greek." The former
is essentially the written language, the latter the spoken
language. Most writers on modem Greece ignore this
point almost completely. Mr. John Stuart Blackie,
writing in Blackwood's Magazine, speaks of the two
grades, but he makes the distinction not so much that
between a written and a spoken language, as between the
language of education and culture, and that of unedu-

GREEK IMMIGRATION

cation and ignorance. As will develop later, this does
not exactly hit the point.

In the writings of modem travelers we frequently find
such sentences as the following: '^The student of ancient
Greek finds no great difficulty in reading a modem Greek
newspaper." This is not wholly untrue. But no mention
is made of the fact that the uneducated Greek peasant has
great difficulty in understanding the newspaper when it
is read to him. A missionary in Smyrna, to whom Greek
is as much her native language as English, read some
passages from the modem Greek New Testament to
her kitchen maid — a very intelligent, though uneducated
girl — ^but she was not able to understand them. An expe-
rience of my own well illustrates this point. While taking
a short trip in a sailboat, I said to the boatman one day,
*^Adfi€ Tov ircXov funi (take my hat)," and he looked at me in
blank incomprehension. I repeated my remark in low
Greek, *^ vdip€ ro fcaircXXo fiw " and he understood at once.

It is not to be understood that there are two distinct
sets of people, one speaking one grade of the language
and the other the other. High Greek is the vehicle of
>^xpression of literature, oratory, etc. Low Greek is the
language of conversation. Educated people of course
are familiar with both, but nobody thinks of talking the
kind of language he reads in the newspapers, unless he
is striving for efi^ect. This difference is not merely one
in nicety of expression, or choice of idiom, or correctness
of grammar. It is all this, but it is more. All through
the language there is a difference of words, even for the
simplest of meanings. One will be high Greek, the other
low. The meaning will be identical. It is almost super-
fluous to remark that the high Greek approximates most

RELIGION AND LANGUAGE

closely the ancient language. The following list of words
is typical.

High Gbexk

Low Gbekx Emoubh EauivALEir

iiriXaifBiivofiaiy Xtftryuawk

ixxpam

forget

ILpfTOi

^W/JU

bread

ZS^

V€p6{v)

water

KoBur/m

KaBiickaj KopiicXa

chair

wtKo9

icaircAXo (v)

hat

ix^

S^dptoVf \(fapi

fish

^it^OaX^

fuCri

eye

Iwir^

Skoyo (v)

horse

OWTV^

lr<ri

fi<nk

dycX<£8a

cow

KV»V

(TicvXos

dog

TiBrifu

PdXXm

put

Iwo&f KaraXofifidim

KaraXapio

understand

{rtXiqvrf

4>€yydpi

moon

iflyov, tpyturCoL

iovXud

work

These words have been chosen with care that there
should not be the slightest difference in significance
beween the terms. It will be observed that some of the
low words are corruptions of high words, but more come
from an entirely different root, and show no connection.
This list might be extended almost indefinitely, but the
examples will sufiice. This reduplication of words nat-
urally applies mainly to words expressing some common,
everyday idea. In the case of the more unusual, abstruse
or refined conceptions, which are used exclusively by people
of some education or culture, the same distinction does not
exist.

These two grades, of course, frequently overlap both in
writing and conversation. There are extensions in both
directions. In looking up words in the dictionary one finds

GREEK EMIGRATION

some of a highly chissical flavor, which he might search
long to find in daily use, though their more vulgar equiva-
lents may be of very frequent occurrence. On the other hand,
the very uncultured and ignorant use a degraded language
sufficiently distinct as almost to be classed as a third grade.
But in this respect, Greek is not wholly different from other
languages. Perhaps no word better illustrates the variety
of elegance in the expression of a common idea than the
word for donkey. The good word is **3vos," the vulgar
word is ^'yoScpos" or ^'yatScpos.*' But in common use this is
changed to ' ' yalSovpt" and as like as not the peasant will hitch
on his favorite diminutive ending and call it ^'yatSovpaxi."
Another good example is the word for steamboat. The high
word is **4Tfw>irXouv" or more commonly **dr/iairX€iov." But
the word almost universally used in conversation, so low that
it frequently is not given in the dictionaries, comes from
the French "vapeur'^ or Italian "vapore,'' and is **/3a»opt."
In many sections this is further corrupted and becomes
^^vofMTopi." In conversation with an intelligent Greek this
matter came up, and he took a piece of paper from his
pocket and, with only a moment^ s reflection, wrote down
ten equivalents for the word ^ 'stone, ^^ and seven for the
phrase ''he went.'^ In this case, however, there would
probably be some slight distinction in meaning between
some of the words. Even to so common a word as the
indefinite article "a^^ or "an,^^ this distinction extends.
This in Greek is the word "one^^ and is properly declined,
*^€U, fiCd, iy" and so one finds it in the books and news-
papers. But no one ever thinks of using it so in conver-
sation ; there it is declined, *'ims or Ivos, fua, tva." But this
is really a matter of grammar, and brings us to the con-
sideration of that topic.

RELIGION AND LANGUAGE

The grammar of the modem Greek language is theo-
reticaUy very similar to the ancient, though some super-
fluities such as the dual number have been dropped, and
the genitive case very largely takes the place of the dative.
In writing, the rules of grammar are adhered to with
considerable fidelity, but in conversation Greek suffers the
changes that every highly inflected language is liable to.
There is a constant tendency to reduce the inflection of
both verbs and nouns. Unnecessary inflectional termina-
tions are dropped. Every possible noun is put into the
neuter and is made to end in **o"or'*i." Only three
cases, the nominative, genitive and accusative, are used,
and in the neuter the first and last of these are the same.
Agreement between an adjective and a noun, and other
fine points of grainmar are carelessly treated, and the
constant tendency is to reduce the language to a less
cumbersome, more convenient means of expression. In
some ways the efforts of 'the scholars to force the language
back into its classical form are commendAle. Yet it is
very questionable whether it is wise to try to stem the
current of natural development, and it seems highly prob-
able that the result will be, instead of purifying the every-
day language of the people, merely to make the resources
of modem Greek literature comparatively unavailable to
the lower classes.

The pronunciation of modem Greek differs considerably
from the Erasmian pronunciation which is taught in the
American schools, and which arouses the extreme ridicule
of modem Greeks. The greatest variation is in the vowel
flounds. ''a" has but one sound, corresponding to the
English "a."* **€" and "oi" are pronounced •*e.'' '%

•As In "father."

<i_ i»

GREEK IMMIGRATION

*'i," **v,"and the dipthongs "a" and **oi" all have the
same sound, the English long ^'e,'^ the commonest vowel
soimd in the Greek language. '*o'* and *'»" both have
the same sound, *'o,^' while the diphthong **ov" is pro-
nounced like **ou'' in "through. '' **ai" has the soiuid of
" 1 , " but is rarely used except in words of foreign derivation.
There are accordingly only about six vowel sounds in modem
Greek, with the result that the language is decidedly
monotonous to listen to. As regards the consonants, the
principal variations from the Erasmian system are ^'/S,'*
pronounced **v'' and **8" pronounced "th.''» * >" is rolled
and ''y** and ^'x*' ^^^^ a guttural quality for which there
is no English equivalent.

In language, as in other things, there are frequent local
peculiarities in the various portions of the Greek world.
For instance, the Cretans have quite a distinct pronun-
ciation for the letter **x" equivalent to the English "sh.
In general, the language of Greece proper is ^^higher
than that of Turkey, where there is a greater admixture
of Turkish and Italian words. The Greek pastor of one
of the Protestant churches in Turkey, an extremely intelli-
gent man, and a graduate of the University of Athens,
found difficulty in preaching to his people in a language
which would be intelligible to them. On the other hand,
in some of the out-of-the-way islands, untouched by the
changes of centuries, there is said to exist a language
strongly suggestive in many particulars of the classic
Greek.

Our conclusion in regard to the language must be that
while the modem tongue is widely divergent from the
ancient, there is yet an unbroken connection between the

•As in "then."

RELIGION AND LANGUAGE

two, and though we are not warranted in taking this as
a proof of the racial homogeneity of the ancient and
modem peoples, there can be no doubt that the language
has rendered great service in preserving the race feeling,
and in maintaining the national continuity of the people.

CHAPTER IV*

The Direct Causes of Emigbation

IN the preceding pages we have endeavored to give a
hasty portrayal of the life and character of the
modem Greeks, with special reference to migration move-
mentsy and we have seen that for varied reasons emigra-
tion from Greece is no new thing. It has been in the spirit
of the Greek people from time immemorial. But in past
generations it has been a gradual, natural movement, a
draining off of the surplus population. Within the last
fifteen years, however, there has sprung up a new emigra-
tion — the emigration to America — ^which is no longer a
gradual withdrawal of those who cannot find elbow-room
in the old country, nor a natural departure of the more
adventurous and enterprising, to seek more fertile fields
of fortune. It is a radical, violent exodus of all the strong
young men, which has already devastated whole villages,
and threatens to leave the entire kingdom depleted of its
natural working force. What is the origin of this phe-
nomenon? What are the causes of this sudden and start-
ling emigration?

It is a well-known principle of all emigration, that there
must be some active dissatisfaction or discomfort in the
home land to cause large bodies of people to leave. The
assumption is that the generality of mankind will remain
in the land in which they are bom, unless some strong
motive impels them to leave. The inertia of human beings
is great. To induce people to break the bonds of family

* This chapter was printed in the Yak Bm>Uu) for August, 1009,
and is reproduced here by permission of the publishers.

DIRECT CAUSES OF EMIGRATION

and neighborhood relations^ to give up a known situation
for an untried one, to turn their backs on the home
country and seek some far-off shore, there must in general
be some national, local or personal disability to over-
balance the influences of home attachments. The diffi-
culty may be political, religious, economic or social. In
seeking the causes of the new Greek emigration we must
examine each of these possible classes of causes, and elimi-
nate any which have no bearing on the problem under dis-
cussion. For the present purposes three of th^m may be
dismissed very briefly.

First of all, the political condition. Greece is a very
democratic country politically; and while there is prob*
ably too much political agitation, ambition and turmoil
for the good of the country, there is no true political
oppression. It would be hard to find a case in which the
political condition was an active motive for emigration.
The 'terms of military service are light. All men over
twenty-one years of age are required to render active ser-
vice- for two years, but this is usually done gladly, and
instead of finding Greeks fleeing from home to escape this
duty, we more often find them returning from America on
purpose to perform it. The insecurity which still prevails
in some sections is occasionally cited as a motive for emi-
gration, but it is a factor of very slight importance. The
same may be said of religion. Practically every Greek is
loyal to the form and name, at least, of the orthodox
religion of his country and finds its service no hardship.
There are no oppressed religious sects or denominations.
The religion is a national one, and a Greek feels no more
uneasiness in respect to it than he does toward his race.
It is true that Protestants are not very kindly looked upon

GREEK IMMIGRATION

in Greece, but they are not at all a numerous class, and
as for any real persecution, there is none of it. Religion
cuts practically no figure as a motive for emigration.
Nor does the social aspect of the matter yield an explana-
tion. While there are social classes in Greece, they are
very largely determined by wealth, and the social disabili-
ties that any man feels are largely the result of economic
conditions. There remains then the economic situation,
and we may be permitted to anticipate, in so far as to
say that the causes of Greek emigration are practically
e ntirely economic. This being the case, a rather detailed
examination into the economic conditions of the country
must constitute the basis of our inquiry.

The population of Greece, according to the last
three censuses, was as follows: 1889, 2,187,208; 1896,
2,449,506; 1907, 2,691,952. As the area is about
25,000 square miles, the population per square mile in
these years was respectively 87, 97 and 106. This is by
no means a dense population, and while there are vast
expanses of mountain area where there are very few inhab-
itants, still even in the more thickly settled districts the
people are not sufficiently crowded to justify us in regard-
ing mere over-population as a cause of emigration. Many
countries get along very prosperously with a much denser
population than this.

Greece is today, as of old, primarily . ^n agric ultural
and pastoral, and secondarily a m ercantil e country. The
same mountains and seas still divicleit into a series of small
habitation-districts, somewhat less isolated than formerly,
indeed, on account of improved transportation facilities.
The great majority of the people still live in small towns
and villages which are self-supporting and self-sufficient;

^ m ^ ^ /

• - -

DIRECT CAUSES OF EMIGRATION

there are few large cities in Greece.* The abler mercan-
tile spirits must still seek a foreign field for their energies.

Agricultural methods and implements are still very
primitiye in Greece. The bulk of the cultivating is done
either by means of heavy iron hoes, wielded by hand, or by
rude wooden plows drawn by diminutive oxen. In some
of the more enlightened districts steel plows are beginning
to be used and horses are employed for draught purposes.
Within a half-hour's walk of Athens, however, one will find
wooden plows, sometimes with iron shafts. Thus the culti-
vation of the soil is very superficial. Simple irrigation
systems are in very common use. The harvesting is done
by hand, and the grain is trodden out by ponies on a
circular, stone-paved threshing floor. In the Lake Copais
district in northern Greece, on the land made available
for cultivation by the drainage of Lake Copais, more up-
to-date methods are in use. Even here, however, reapers
and binders had to be discarded on account of the softness
of the ground, and the old sickles or reaping-hooks
employed again. Steam threshers are still in use in this
region.

The principal agricultural products of Greece are
currants, wheat, olives, figs, corn, hashish, tobacco and a
variety of garden vegetables. Currants are mainly ex-
ported, and hashish entirely (mostly to Egypt) ; the other
products are largely consumed at home. It is compara-
tively easy to make a bare living in Greece; while the
arable plains and valleys are often so stony as to make a

*The population of the principal dties in 1907 was as follows s
Athens, 167^79; Pinens, 67,980; Patras, 37,401; Corfu, 97,397; Volo^
f»319; Hermopolis (Syra), 17,773; Trikala, 17,809; Zante^ 13,501;
Calamata, 13,193; Pyrgos, 13,690; Tripolis, 10,787; Laurion, 10,007.
From CoDsiilar Reports, Mr. Kathan, Patras.

GREEK IMMIGRATION

peasant open his eyes in incredulous wonder when he hears
of farms where a man can plow all day without striking
a single pebble, they are nevertheless fertile, and even
under inadequate cultivation yield a fair return. The
rocky hillsides support flocks of sheep and goats which
furnish wool for clothing material, and milk, butter and
cheese for food. The necessities of life therefore are close
at hand and easily accessible; while there is a good deal
of exaggeration about the common saying that, *^a Greek
can live on the smell of an oiled rag," yet the needs of the
peasant are simple and easily supplied. Want that verges
on starvation is rare in Greece.

On the other hand, it is difficult under these circum-
stances to lay up even a moderate amount of money. As
would be expected in a primitive agricultural country,
each of the small towns or villages, which form a charac-
teristic feature of the Greek social organization, is almost
entirely independent. The majority of the families raise
their own living materials ; thread is spun and cloth woven
by hand and at home ; baking is done in the stone or mud
oven which stands in every typical dooryard ; shoes, cook-
ing utensils and various implements and tools are made in
small shops in the village. Thus each man's products are
virtually the same as his neighbor's, and there is small
necessity or opportunity for exchange. As a result, the
internal commerce of Greeo^ is insignificant.

This state of affairs is accentuated by the small develop-
ment of transportation:^ facilities. While there has been
much improvement in this respect in the last few years,
means of communication are still very inadequate. There
are a number of good highways in Greece, some of them
kept in fair condition ; other roads are merely a succession

DIRECT CAUSES OF EMIGRATION

of mudholes, while a great part of the carrying must still
be done by horses or mules over mere bridlepaths. When
crops have to be transported in this way for several hours
before reaching a railroad or market, any possible profit
is quickly consumed. The railroads are all owned by
private companies, of which the stock is largely in foreign
hands. In 1908 the mileage was as follows: Hellenic
railways, 149 miles; Peloponnesus Railway, 468 miles;
Thessalian Railway, 1£7 miles; total, 744 miles.* The
trains are of the English type, the cars small and the
tracks narrow. The schedules are for the most part very
slow: the distance from Athens to Calamata, about 206
miles, is a matter of about twelve hours by rail, an average
of seventeen miles per hour; between Athens and Patras
express trains run three or four times a week which make
somewhat better time. There are three classes and the
tariffs are as follows: First class, .12, second class, .10,
third class, .06 drachmas per kilometer. Reduced to our
basis of measurement these rates are, S.8, S.2 and 1.9 cents
per mile. The postal service is miserable : if a letter is in
the mails between Patras and Athens, the addressee is for-
tunate if he receives it before the third day after it is
posted. At the same time domestic letter-postage is .20
drachmas, the equivalent of four cents, which seems espe-
cially exorbitant when the diminutive size of the country is
considered.

The ignorance and stupidity of the people sometimes
impede improvement along these lines. A short time ago,
when an effort was made to introduce freight and passen*
ger automobiles for service between Tripolis and Sparta,
and some freight automobiles in Athens, the populace
* Daily ConsuUr Trade Reports, October 9, 1908^ p. 11.

GREEK IMMIGRATION

opposed the innovation with demonstrations amountiiii;
ahnost to riots. The argument advanced was that
these new machines would put horses out of business,
thereby advancing the price of bread, as there would
then be no demand for bran. The press supported the
demonstrators !

One of the most up-to-date transportation facilities in
Greece is the electric tram line between Athens and the
Piraeus. In the equipment, handling of passengers, run-
ning of trains and attendance, this line is admirably
managed.

In consideration of the conditions outlined above, and
the difficulties of interior commerce resulting therefrom,
it is inevitable that for any lucrative trade the Greek is
obliged to rely upon export ; and yet the exportable prod-
ucts of the country are few. By far the most important
of these is the currant, a small, very sweet, seedless grape
which is raised on the lowlands along the west coast of the
peninsula and on some of the islands. This district fur-
nishes practically the whole currant supply of the world.
The currants are dried in the sun, cleaned, packed in car-
tons, boxes, or barrels, and shipped to England, America,
or elsewhere. Currant raising is the fundamental industry
of the nation, and the dependence of the whole Greek
people on the currant crop is almost pathetic. Other
export products are wine (made largely from currants),
cheese, olives and olive oil, figs and hashish.

The importance of the export trade, even though the
articles of export are so few, added to the natural mer-
cantile proclivities of the people, has led a large part of
the Greek people in all times to devote themselves to mari-
time pursuits. The Greeks are today, as always, a nation

DIRECT CAUSES OF EMIGRATION

of sailors. The following statement is taken from Mr.
Horton's reports: "According to ^Veritas,' a British
publication, the Greek marine for 1906 numbered 204
steamers of 868,484 total tonnage, while in 1906 it con-
sisted of 186 steamers of 883,921 tonnage. Of sailing
vessels of more than 60 tons each, the number is given for
1906 as 877, with a total tonnage of 179,846." Greece
is said to be the foremost rival of Great Britain for the
trade of Constantinople. Sea traffic has been considerably
facilitated bj the Corinth Canal, completed in 1898.
This was not a paying investment on the basis of the
original cost, and was recently sold at auction; on the
new, and much smaller capitalization, it is said to be pay-
ing handsome dividends. Unfortunately it is too narrow
to admit the larger ships in the Mediterranean service.
The principal port of the kingdom is the Pineus, which
has an excellent harbor, and the main shipping port for
the currant crop is Patras. In the height of the shipping
season the whole water front of the city presents a scene
of feverish activity. Patras is also the main point of
embarkation for the emigrants to America.

When it became evident that emigration to America was
going to assume large proportions, efforts were made to
organize one or two Greek steamship companies, operating
direct lines to the United States. But the inveterate fac-
tionalism and commercial dishonesty, so characteristic of
the race, seriously hindered these projects. In regard to
one of these companies we find the following statement in
an official report in 1906: '^Unfortunately the projected
line of steamships between the Piraeus and New York has
not yet materialized. The project fell through just at the
moment when it seemed about to be realized, on account

GREEK IMMIGRATION

of personal differences among the directors. The com-
pany is now split up into two hostile factions, one of which
seems to have the ships and the other most of the money,
and until they get together there is not much prospect of
the line being got into running order." This passage
undoubtedly refers to the Moraites Company, which was
finally organized and in 1908 sent its first ship to New
York. But the compan/ was short-lived. Soon after its
organization two of its ships were sunk, one near Greece
and one near New Orleans, and the circumstances of the
sinking of at least one of them were so suspicious that the
insurance companies refused to pay the loss. This
catastrophe, coupled with dissensions among the directors,
broke up the company ; it was speedily reorganized, how-
ever, and is now doing business, under the name ^^Themis-
tokles," which is also the new name of the principal ship
of the line. More recently a new line has been started
bearing the title ^^Hellenic Transatlantic Steam Naviga-
tion Company, Ltd.," whose principal emigrant ship is the
Patris. This company, too, had a stroke of hard luck,
which cast a shadow over its career and tended to put the
Greek companies in bad repute in the eyes of shippers and
insurance companies. Late in the winter of 1908-09 one
of its cargo steamers was entering the harbor of Patras
at night and collided with a Belgian cargo boat lying
anchored outside the breakwater, sinking the latter in
water deep enough to preclude all probability of salvage.
The excuse given by the Greek captain was that he could
not tell whether the other ship was outside or inside the
breakwater.

Frederick List, in his system of economics, laid great
stress on the importance to any nation of a diversified in-

d -J

m J

^ J

DIRECT CAUSES OF EMIGRATION

dustry. There can be no doubt that in the generality of
cases, the agricultural resources of a country need to be
supplemented by a well-developed manufacturing industry
in order to secure the greatest prosperity. In this respect
Greece is sadly lacking, for its manufactures are in a very
low state ; the plants are for the most part small and com-
paratively insignificant.* One sees very few factories of
considerable size while traveling through Greece; some of
the most notable plants are those of the Soci^t^ Hell^nique
de Vins et Spiritueux at Eleusis and Calamata. The
reasons for this meager development of manufactures are
various. In the first place, Greece is very poorly supplied
with mineral resources; there is no coal, and the lignite
which has been discovered in northern Greece has hitherto
proved of little value. The mineral products include iron,
manganese, chrome ore, magnesiiun, sulphur, emery stone,
plaster, salt, lead, silver ore, speiss, marble and millstones.
But the total value of these products in 1906 was only
$2,615,086, though it rose to $4,070,928 in 1906.t Lack
of coal is not compensated for by any abundant water
power; the mountain streams are utilized in a small way
to turn gristmills, but if there are any extensive resources
in this direction, they have not as yet been developed.

Another economic disability is presented by the matter
of taxation. The agricultural taxes are not heavy ; they
consist mainly in a tax on live stock and one on productive
plants, as for instance a tax on vineyards of from one and
one half to four drachmas per stremma (1,196 square

* In Table 1 is given a list of Uie principal manufacturing estab-
lishments in operation in tlie principal cities of Greece in tlie year
1905.

t Consul-General*8 Report, 1908.

GREEK IMMIGRATION

yards). But the total is not great and these taxes are not
felt as a burden. The customs tariffs, on the other hand,
are very onerous; they are arbitrary and in many cases
extreme.^ The customs officials are often careless and
arrogant, and the assessments are very uneven, varying
from 15 per cent to 80 per cent on the same article.
Groods are handled very roughly by the inspectors, fre-
quently being dumped out on the floor, and breakage in
the customs house is a serious item in the cost of goods.
There is also a great deal of corruption among the officials.

Another really serious hindrance to the development of
manufactures is the frequency of religious holidays. The
profits on an expensive installment of machinery are very
quickly eaten up if it has to lie idle eight or ten days out
of the month — and the Greeks will not work on holidays.
Even to the casual traveler, it is a source of continual
annoyance to be unable, on irregularly recurring occasions
with which he is unfamiliar, to make purchases or to have
checks cashed. The conunercial representative of a
foreign business house finds the situation still more vexing.
Industry in Greece is subject to the conmion disadvantages
which affect all undeveloped countries. Transportation
difficulties have been noticed ; and the difficulty of getting
repairs for machinery is another quite important element
in the problem. There are some iron and brass foundries,
but their output is mainly rough, and as most of the
machines in use in the country are imported, the breaking
of a small part may cause a very expensive delay.

There still remains to be considered what is the most
fundamental and perhaps the most serious of all the bin-

* Table 9 gives the tariifs on some of the principal articles of
import

DIRECT CAUSES OF EMIGRATION

drances to the developmeiit of industry in this country —
the old dishonesty and inability to work together in
harmony, which have already been mentioned as inveter-
atdy Greek. These people seem incapable of carrying
on a large cooperative business with harmony and success.
When Greek meets Greek, still comes the tug of war —
each individual tugging to get the greatest possible share
of the profits into his own pocket, or at least to get the
completest possible control of the business into his own
hands. One of the maxims of Greek business life trans-
lated into the American vernacular is, ^Tut out the other
fellow's eye" ; the idea of sacrificing personal interest and
gain for the sake of the company's prosperity is foreign
to the Greek mind. This is not merely the opinion of a
foreign observer, but is frankly admitted by many intelli-
gent and candid thinkers among the Greeks themselves.
The disastrous effect of this peculiarity in the case of the
Moraites Company has been alluded to; and yet another
example is furnished by the lead mines at Laurion. There
are two companies working these mines, one Greek and
one French: the former has every advantage, while the
latter works only the tailings left by the ancients; yet
it is said that the French company is making handsome
profits, while the Greek concern never pays a dividend on
account of disagreements among the directors.

This industrial stagnation is not due to lack of capital,
for there is plenty of it in the country. There are many
wealthy Greeks, and large sums of money are lying on
deposit in the banks of Athens, drawing only 8 or 4 per
cent.^ But the Greek plutocrat of today, who in all
probability has made his fortune in some foreign land,

* These sums are said to amount to S00»000,000 francs.

GREEK IMMIGRATION

prefers to spend it in a life of idleness and ease in the
coffee-houses and clubs of Athens rather than to take the
trouble to employ it himself in some productive industry ;
and he is afraid to entrust it to any of his countrymen to
be so employed, for he has no confidence in their business
ability or honesty.

The conditions outUned above have produced an anoma-
lous and very unfortunate situation in Greece today.
Prices are very high, wages are very low ; a comparison of
actual figures^ will show that for the working man even the
ordinary comforts of life are almost out of the question.
Within the last few years Athens has ceased to be a cheap
place to live in, and has become one of the most expensive
cities in Europe. A summary of this state of affairs is
quoted by Mr. Horton from a writer in the EconamUt
d' Orient^ as follows :t All the merchants, great and
small, testify to a stagnation, the causes of which they
can not explain, or profess not to know. The peasants
desert the country either to sit about the cafes of Athens
and Pineus, or to leave for America. The minister of war
has recently been able to recruit only 6,000 to 7,000 men
on a caU for 15,000. Nearly 200,000 young men have
emigrated to America and the Transvaal. About 1,000
houses are vacant in Athens, and yet the prices of rent
have raised 15 to 20 per cent. The principal articles of
food grow dearer continually, and the products of manu-
facture, notwithstanding the fall of exchange to 1.08 and
1.09, are at the same price in drachmas as when the franc

* A list of the rates of wages in various occupations will be found
in Table S .and the prices of some of the more important commodi-
ties in Tables 4 and 5.

t Consular Reports, May 11, 1907.

DIRECT CAUSES OF EllIGRATION

was worth 1.55 to 1.60." Rents in Athens net about 5
per cent or 6 per cent after dedacting taxes, water-rates,
etc. Interest rates in Tarions parts of Greece vary from
6 per cent to 8 per cent or 10 per cent. A few years ago
they ran from 10 per cent to 15 per cent.

The f aU in exchange, mentioned in the foregoing quota-
tion, is one of the most remarkable features of the economic
situation in Greece. The standard of value in Greece is
the gold drachma, corresponding in value to the French
franc and the Italian lira, but the common medium of
exchange is the paper drachma. This money is issued in
the form of bank notes, of the denominations of one, two,
fire and ten drachmas, and higher denominations, the size
of the paper note varying with the value. A decade ago
the exchange between gold and silver was in the neighbor-
hood of 160, that is to say, with 100 gold or silver drach-
mas or francs you could secure 160 paper drachmas with
which you could go out and make your purchases. Large
amounts of money, salaries, and in fact any permanent
sums of mcmey are reckoned in gold, while ordinary prices
are quoted in the more unstable medium of paper. Even
in so recent a publication as the 1905 edition of Baedeker's
Guide Book, hotel rates, etc., are frequently quoted in both
gold and paper, and the difference is proportional to that
between eight and twelve. YiTithin the last few years,
however, the rate of exchange has faUen rapidly until it
now stands at 108, or even less. The following causes
have been suggested for this phenomenon: (1) Loans
from European sources for the financing of internal enter-
prises; (£) restoration of confidence in Greece, leading
to the purchase abroad of Greek securities; (8) emigra-
tion to America. Large sums of money have been sent

GREEK IMMIGRATION

back home, making currency freer. These sums are esti-
mated by the Postmaster-General of Greece at about
$8,000,000 per year. Mr. Horton's report for 1905,
from which these suggestions have been taken, enumerates
three others of a more temporary nature: (4) A good
grain crop in Thessaly; (5) the founding of the Banque
d'Orient; (6) the fact that during the English-Boer war,
gold was used by Greek capitalists to buy ships. With
the cessation of the war, this outlay ceased, while the ships
continued to earn money.

It is very probable that the money sent home from
America should rank as the most important of all these
causes. But, however caused, the effect of this fall in
exchange is sufficiently definite; nominal prices have re-
mained practically the same as they were ten years ago,
which means that real prices have advanced virtually about
80 per cent. There has been some advance in wages to
compensate for it; but the wage-earning class in Greece
is not a large one, and for the salaried classes and the
small independent producer, it means that the cost of
living has increased enormously. The whole discouraging
situation is so admirably summed up in Mr. Horton^s
Report on Industrial Conditions, that we take the liberty
of quoting several paragraphs entire (Report of 1908).

^^There are few manufacturing plants Jind none of any

great importance Female and child labor are very

generally utilized in Greece, whenever they can be made

serviceable There is not much hope for a laboring

man to save money in Greece, where three to four drachmas
a day are good wages and where seven drachmas are
regarded as a high wage for a master workman." A
laborer earning five drachmas per day will pay ten drach-

DIRECT CAUSES OF EMIGRATION

mas per month for a room for himself and his family.
**The workman's breakfast consists of bread and black
coffee ; his luncheon of a piece of bread, or if he can afford
it, a piece of bread and some black olives, which he usually
takes with him in a little round, covered box. Sometimes
he buys a half cent's worth of inferior grapes, or a tomato.
Thus his lunch would cost, say, six cents for bread and
two cents for olives.

**At night the family dines on a few cents' worth of
rice, boiled together with wild greens and olive oil, and
bread, or wild greens boiled in olive oil and eaten with

bread, or some similar inexpensive dish Meat is

eaten by the laboring classes as a general thing three
times a year: Christmas, Easter, and on the so-called
^Birth of the Virgin,' which the church has set down for
the month of August. Such a family as I am describing,
the average laboring man's family of Greece, rarely if
ever see such things as butter, eggs and milk. There are
180 fasting days in the Greek religious year, which are
rigorously observed by the laboring class, without, how-
ever, causing any marked degree of abnegation in the
matter of diet."

People living under conditions of this sort are ripe for
emigration, especially if, like the Greeks, they are of a
stock which has always displayed great readiness in sever-
ing home ties. All that is needed to start an enormous
exodus is some immediate stimulus, some slight turn in the
condition of affairs, provided that a favorable outlet pre-
sents itself, and the process of migration is not too expen-
sive or difficult. As an American gentleman of long resi-
dence in Athens remarked, ^*The wonder is, not that the

GREEK IMMIGRATION

Greeks are now emigrating to America in such numbers,
but that they did not begin long ago."

The new Greek emigration to America is a matter of
the last decade.^ It is within this period that these people
have been coming in such inunense and ever-increasing
numbers as to make the movement a true social phenome-
non. It seems undeniable that there must have been some
moving cause, some epochal development, about the close
of the nineteenth century, to have started the wheel to
turning with such increased velocity. If we review the
causes of the industrial mal-development as outlined above,
we find nothing there of very recent origin except the
matter of the fall in exchange ; this, however, is primarily
a result and only secondarily a cause of emigration. It
is almost impossible to get even an intelligent Greek to
comprehend your meaning if you ask him what was the
immediate cause of the new emigration. These people are
not fitted by mental equipment or training for analytical
reasoning; they habitually look only at the surface of
things. About all the answer you can hope to get is
something as follows: ^^Why, our country is poor and
America is rich. They go there because they can get
more money."

The two most plausible explanations for this new move-
ment are connected with the hostility of Roumania and
Bulgaria, and with the failure of|the currant market, both
of which occurrences are of comparatively recent origin.
In former years large numbers of Greeks found a field for
their enterprise in the neighboring countries of Roumania
and Bulgaria. These Greeks did not belong exclusively
to the exploiting class, such as has always gone to Turkey

* See Table 6.

DIRECT CAUSES OF EMIGRATION

and Egypt — though perhaps here too they were the most
numerous ; there were also large numbers of agriculturists
and some laborers, particularly boatmen and stevedores
along the Danube. However, within the last quarter of a
century a strong feeling of hostility to the Greeks has
grown up in both Bulgaria and Roumania : in Bulgaria the
difficulty \s largely due to religious antagonism between
the clergy and the people of the two nations, and it is
coming to pass that a Greek hates a Bulgarian almost as
much as he does a Turk. In Roumania the trouble is
largely political: in accordance with recent legislation,
unless a Greek becomes a Roumanian citizen (which very
few are willing to do), he is subjected to a great deal of
annoyance and hindrance. In consequence of all this,
Greeks have ceased going to the countries in question, and
many who were there have returned, sometimes with broken
fortunes. It is said that Russia also gives the Greeks less
freedom now than of old. Against the use of these facts
as an explanation of the new emigration it is argued that
the movement to Bulgaria and Roumania was never nearly
so extensive as it now is to America, and that the class of
emigrants was different from that which turns toward
America, being composed much more largely of the com-
mercial and exploiting class. Both of these points are
undoubtedly true, but, as has been already pointed out,
there were a good number of Greek laborers among the
emigrants to the north and east. And even if there had
not been, a comparatively small number of the more intelli-
gent and enterprising class, going to America and estab-
lishing themselves in prosperous business, would have
opened the way for a much larger number of a lower class
to follow them. It seems entirely reasonable to suppose

GREEK IMMIGRATION

that the closure of one outlet for emigration must have
served as a contributory motive for seeking another outlet
elsewhere.

The second explanation is, however, probably much more
important, as it is directly connected with the basic agri-
cultural industry of the country. About 1868 there
appeared in France a disastrous pest among the grape-
vines which was identified as the phylloxera, a disease
caused by a small insect belonging to the family of the
aphides or plant lice, and whose native home is in America.
These insects attach themselves to the roots of the vines,
forming roughness and swellings, and causing the leaves
to turn yellow and wither and the fruit to shrivel up.
After the introduction of phylloxera into France it spread
very rapidly and caused great devastation. But what
was France's loss was the gain of Greece, for the failure
of the grape crop in France caused a large demand for
Greek currants to be used in wine making in the former
country. For a while the currant market was very
vigorous, and the culture of this fruit was the most lucra-
tive agricultural pursuit in Greece. Allured by the prom-
ise of large and speedy profits in currant raising, the
Greek farmers allowed the silk culture to decline, and very
many of them cut down their fine old olive orchards and
planted the ground with vines. For a while all went well ;
but in the meantime France was making every effort to
discover some efficient means of combating the pest.
Chemical inoculation of the soil, inundation of the vine-
yards, mechanical cleansing of the roots, were all tried
with no great success. American vines, immune to the dis-
ease, were imported, but this resulted in a deterioration
of the wine. Finally, late in the nineteenth century, a new

DIRECT CAUSES OF EMIGRATION

experiment was tried: American vines were imported and
upon their roots were grafted branches of French vines.
Thus were combined the immunity of the former and the
fine quality of the latter. The process was eminently suc-
cessful and proved to be the solution of the problem; the
culture of the vine revived in France, and as a consequence
there was a sharp falling off in the market for currants
which spelled disaster for Greece. The olive trees could
not be replaced, since it takes many years for an olive
orchard to reach a really productive stage.

The depressed state of the currant market is one of the
most noticeable features of the economic situation in
Greece at the present time. Everybody is talking about
it. A large part of the crop of 1908 was still lying unsold
in the warehouses the following spring. Various efforts
have been made to find some new way to utilize this
material. One of the most successful has been the manu-
facture from currants of combustible spirits which can be
used in lamps and heating stoves. The visitor to Greece
notices everywhere a peculiar form of lamp, using a mantle
of the Welsbach type, but burning alcohol. Experiments
are now being carried on in the hope of devising some
method of extracting sugar from the currants, and while
so far the experimenters have not succeeded in crystalliz-
ing the syrup, considerable hope is cherished as to the final
outcome of the attempt. At present, however, the currant
industry is sadly demoralized.

This serious and comparatively sudden disaster to the
market for the principal export crop furnished the imme-
diate stimulus which was needed to make a people, already
in depressed condition, seek for some relief from the
burdens of their existence. The traditional method of

GREEK IMMIGRATION

relief for the Greek people is emigration. All that was
needed was the prospect of some favorable country to go
to, and some provision for the journey thither. The
Greek succeeds best either in countries where he is superior
in business capacity to the native inhabitants, or in a
highly developed industrial country, where he can work
himself into some unoccupied comer of the commercial
edifice and build up a small but lucrative trade. To the
former class belong Turkey, Persia, and Egj^t, and in
these countries there are large numbers of prosperous
Greek business men. But opportunities of this sort are
limited in number and demand an experience, capital and
ability which the ordinary peasant does not possess. A
large number of Greeks tried the Transvaal, but they
were not very successful there, probably because the local
English business men were their superiors, and the country
was not sufficiently developed to oflTer many opportunities
for profitable small trade. America, on the other hand,
and especially the United States, offered just the condi-
tions which the Greek populace was looking for; it was
a highly developed country, with plenty of money, and
people were ready to pay well for the gratification of their
minor wants. For a quarter of a century Greeks had been
going to America in small numbers ; they had been, for the
most part, successful, and were in command of businesses
which to the Greek peasant appeared highly lucrative;
and they had been sending home glowing accounts of the
attractions of America, accompanied by sums of money
which appeared munificent to their poverty-stricken rela-
tives and friends in the fatherland. These communications
had made their due impression, and when the Greeks began
to feel the necessity of escape from an increasingly difficult

DIRECT CAUSES OF EMIGRATION

sitoation, America seemed to them the new land of promise,
and they began by thousands to answer to her call. Once
started, this movement, like the familiar chain letter, could
not be checked, but grew by its own multiplication. Each
Greek in America became the nucleus of a rapidly increas*
ing group of his own kin or neighbors. So began that
great exodus which assumed such startling proportions in
the early years of the present century. Given the stimulus
and the goal, all that remained to be provided was the
means of migration — ^the material means of conveyance
and the financial means to defray the expenses. Both of
these were promptly forthcoming; steamship agents are
never slow to seize opportunities such as existed in Greece
at the time in question, and all the principal Mediterranean
steamship lines established agencies in the Piraeus, Patras
and other ports, as well as in some of the important interior
cities. Emigration agents began to scour the country,
exciting the imagination of the peasants as to the glories
and opportunities of America, clearing away the difficulties
which seemed to beset the passage, and in many cases
advancing the money for the trip. In other cases, if the
prospective emigrant could not get together sufficient
money at home, it was furnished him by some friend or
relative in America.

Just how large a part in this movement has been played
by emigration agents, legally and illegally, it would be
impossible to say. In matters of this kind the Greek is
extremely deep and crafty, and it would be the work of
months, perhaps of years, for a skilleil detective actually
to make out a case against the Greek emigration agents.
They are accused in some cases of working through the
priests. One of the first things that attracts the eye of

GREEK IMMIGRATION

the traveler landing in the Piraeus is the amazing number
of American flags flying from office buildings all along
the water front and the neighboring streets ; their signifi-
cance is somewhat perplexing until he learns that they are
steamship offices or emigration agencies — for there is no
great distinction between the two. Patras and all the
other leading ports abound in offices of this kind, and they
are also to be found in very many cities and villages in
the interior. It is contrary to human nature, particularly
to Greek human nature, that in the face of this keen com-
petition these agents should merely sit calmly in their
offices waiting for such business as might come to them;
as an American would say, ^Hhey go out after the busi-
ness," and there can be no doubt that they have exercised
a tremendous influence in exciting and perpetuating the
movement to America. I was told on excellent authority
of one gentleman, born in Greece of English parents, who
in the earlier days of the movement was said by his friends
to have made ten thousand pounds a year out of this busi-
ness. He had agents in all parts of the kingdom, and
even extended his operations to Turkey; he sold tickets,
advanced money to the emigrants to pay their debts to
the government and the expenses of the voyage, and in
every way facilitated their passage. A few years ago he
was complaining that the new immigration laws of the
United States were cutting into his profits ; and he is now
an agent for one of the principal steamship lines. The
great harvest for the agent is now over, for the Greek
today is too familiar with conditions in. America to be
fooled by the old stories of dollars picked up on the street,
and rich food to be had for the mere asking; but there is

//'

- /■

DIRECT CAUSES. OF EMIGRATION

stiU plenty of money to be made out of emigrants, and will
be as long as they keep coming.

The emigration movement, as may be inferred from what
has gone before, has given a great impetus to the steam-
ship business of Greece ; it is doubtful, indeed, if a single
direct line of steamers between Greek and American ports
would pay expenses without the emigrant traffic. As it
is, there are several that are doing a profitable business.
The two Greek lines have been already mentioned. The
most important of all lines is the Austro- American, which
is a new Austrian company with its headquarters in
Trieste. In 1905 it sent its first ship from the Pirieus
to New York, via Patras, with the expectation of catching
the currant and emigrant trade, a project which was very
successful. The number of ships sailing" direct from
Greece to New York was increased, and i^l908 this com-
pany had forty-two sailings from Patras to the United
States, of which twenty-nine were emigrant boats to New
York, six emigrant boats to New Orleans and seven cargo
boats to New York, Philadelphia and Boston. In the
same year the Prince line had nine sailings and the
Moraites line three sailings from Greece to the United
States. Almost every important Atlantic steamship com-
pany has an agency or connection in at least one of the
Greek ports, and many emigrants still go to America by
way of Naples, or even of Cherbourg or Havre.

The situation may be briefly siunmed up as follows:
The conditions due to the meager industrial development
in Greece have within recent years been accentuated by
a marked agricultural depression. This has made it very
difiScult for the ordinary peasant to secure even, a moderate
return for his labors. The marked rise in prices which

GREEK IMMIGRATION

for various reasons has occurred contemporaneously with
the decline in the agricultural market, has added to the
burdens of life until they have become very heavy. The
Greek peasants have accordingly been led to look for some
new field of effort where there are greater returns for
labor, and have found it in the United States. The
motiye; for the new emigration are practicaUy without
exception of a financial nature, and may be concisely ex-
pressed in the answer to his queries which one constantly
receives from the Greeks themselves : ^'We go to America
because we can get more money there."

CHAPTER V

The Sources and Means of Emigration

IF we bear in mind the causes of the new emigration
movement from Greece as they have been outlined
above, we will expect to find that the first sections of the
country to respond largely to the call of America were
those which were the most purely agricultural and the
most circumscribed by their natural surroundings, and
also where the people were the most hardy and adventu-
rous. On examination of the actual conditions we find
that this a priori conclusion is justified. The honor — ^if
such it be — of being the cradle of Greek emigration to
America, must be accorded to the districts of Tripolis and
Sparta. Both are interior districts and hence mainly
agricultural and pastoral. Both are closely hemmed in
by mountain chains, with only a few outlets, and in the
former district particularly the people are of a very hardy
and energetic type. In these two sections we may find
the pirimary springs of the great current which now draws
its volume from so many divergent sources, though the
greatest contingents still come from these regions.

Tripolis the city, and the villages which are grouped
around it lie on a broad and fertile table-land situated in
the center of the Peloponnesus, at an elevation of about
2,000 feet above sea level. It is surrounded by rocky and
barren mountains, and the only means of egress is
through a few narrow passes. The high elevation and
invigorating climate have bred a race of people hardy in
body, and keen, intrepid, and alert in intellect, who have

GREEK IMMIGRATION

always borne the reputation of wanderers and adventurers.
From this demos alone it is said that 80,000 persons have
emigrated to America, out of a total population of
800,000 to 400,000. A more detailed description of this
country and its people wiU be found in the chapter on the
effects of emigration. (See page 229.)

Sparta lies in a valley to the south of Tripolis, at a
considerably lower elevation (785 feet). It, too, is sur-
rounded by mountains, but its access to the sea is easier
than that of Tripolis. Its people also are of a less admir-
able type than those of the higher district, though both
groups are superior to the lowland population.

From these two centers the contagion has spread until
today the whole Greek world may be said to be in a fever
of emigration. From the highlands and the lowlands of
the Morea, from Attica, Thessaly and Eubcea, from Mace-
donia, Asia Minor and the islands, the strong young men
with one accord are severing home ties, leaving behind
wives and sweethearts, and thronging the shores of Amer-
ica in search of opportunity and fortune. "America** is
a household word in almost every Greek family. It is
amazing to see how familiar Greeks are with conditions
in the United States. The economic crisis of 1907 in
this country was a topic of common conversation in the
coffee-houses, and it was commonly attributed to the
uncertainty attendant on the presidential election. "Now
that Taft is elected things will be all right." The trav-
eler was asked on every hand whether business was "open-
ing up'* in America, "nie people understand the social
conditions in America, and the circumstances in which
their friends in the United States live. They know the
hardships that the emigrants suffer from dishonest and

SOURCES AND MEANS OF EMIGRATION

tyrannical bosses, and from hard living conditions and a
strange climate. But they also know well the opportu-
nities for making money in the fai^away land, and every
month thousands of them, after weighing the matter care-
fully, take the final step and follow in the footsteps of
their friends. And if one questions a Greek, at home,
en route, or in America as to the causes of the emigration
movement, the answer is almost invariably the same:
**Yes, Greece is a beautiful country, but it is poor. It is
all rocks and mountains. It is hard to make a living
here. America is rich. I can make more money there.
It is the money." That one word "money** is the keynote
of Greek emigration.

In considering movements of this kind it is always a
matter of interest to determine what classes of the popu-
lation are concerned. It is of vital interest to the United
States whether we draw from the better classes, sound in
mind, body and morals, or from the lower strata of society.
In regard to this phase of the question, after what has
gone before, it is hardly necessary to say that as far as
the Greeks are concerned emigration to the United States
is almost wholly an affair of the agricultural and pastoral
classes. The reasons for this are obvious. In the first
place the population of Greece is predominantly agricul-
tural, and it is this class which feels most sharply the
pressure of the unfavorable conditions of the country. A
Greek business man of ability and some capital stands a
much better chance of making a handsome fortune in
some Mediterranean country thaii he does in the United
States. As one young man remarked, "A Greek who goes *
to the United States comes back with 5,000 or 6,000
drachmas, while one who goes to Egypt brings back

GREEK IMMIGRATION

50,000 or 100»000 drachmas." Of late years there has
been an increasingly large number of business and pro-
fessional men among the Greek immigrants into America.
The establishment of large Greek colonies in this country
has made a demand for priests, doctors, lawyers and men
of letters of their own race.

But of the peasant class, do we draw the better or the
poorer? In answer to this question we have already seen
that the original and most abundant sources of emigra-
tion are sections where the population is distinctly superior
to the lowland classes. Mr. N. Grortzis in his book
***Afupu(7i KoX *Afupucavoi^*' (p&K^ 6) says of the emigrants:
**But whatever may be their motive, they are superior to
the average type of their compatriots. The fact that
they do not shrink from crossing an ocean 8,000 miles in
extent, to seek new homes and to begin a new life in a
world entirely new and strange to them, is enough to show
that the spirits which animate their bodies are strong to
take risks, to encounter the unknown, to undergo sacri-
fices far from the surroundings in which they were bom
and spent their childhood." (Translated.)

The proof contained in the last part of the paragraph
quoted seems a trifle inadequate to support so sweeping
a statement as is made in the first sentence. It is very
likely true that the few original emigrants from any
country are of an adventurous, daring and energetic spirit
and in that respect at least superior to their neighbors.
But it does not follow that the same is true under the con-
ditions which now prevail in Greece. Their destination
is no longer a strange and unknown land. The conditions
there are not new and unfamiliar. The modem Greek
emigrant is ticketed through from his village to his final

SOURCES AND MEANS OF EMIGRATION

destination, his passage is very likely paid by some friend-* ^""^^
in America, he has probably just as many friends in the
American city to which he is going as in his native village .
and the conditions in which he finds himself in America
are in many respects a close replica of his home surround-
ings. He knows that if he has hard luck in finding work,
or falls into sickness or any other form of misfortune his
friends will care for him and send him home if necessary.
This is the typical Greek emigrant of today, and it is hard
to see how his undertaking is a mark of any special supe-
riority of character.

However, to state the matter briefly, it may be said that
the Greek emigrating class is composed almost wholly of
young men and men in the prime of life. (See page IIS.)
And when they once get started from any village, they
oQ go ! All, that is to say, who are not inadmissible under
the immigration laws of the United States. For these
restrictions are well understood in Greece. It is known
that persons suffering from certain classes of diseases, the
lame, the blind, etc., will be refused admission, and that
America does not welcome old or enfeebled men. But as
for the strong young men, emigration makes a clean sweep
of them. If a peasant is asked, ^^Have many gone from
your village to America?** the typical answer is: "Oh, yes,
they have all gone. All the boys are in America.'* There
are villages in Greece where a boy grows tip with just as
much of an expectation of going to the United States as
an American boy has of remaining here.

The greatest agency in perpetuating and extending
this movement is the letter from America. A graphic
account of the operation of this force is found in the
Report of the Commissioner-Greneral of Immigration for

GREEK IMMIGRATION

1907 (page 60) : **An influence which perhaps has not
heretofore been accorded the recognition to which its
importance entitles it is the better to the home folks'
written by the alien temporarily or permanently domi-
ciled here. These letters constitute the most extensive
method of advertising that can be imagined ; almost innu-
merable ^endless chains' are thus daily being forged link
by link. A letter is written to his brother, father, or
other relative by an alien who, after a few months' employ-
ment here, has been able to save $150 or $200 — ^a small
fortune in the eyes of the Italian or Hungarian peasant —
picturing in homely but glowing terms the opportunities
of this country for money making. That letter is read
by or to every inhabitant of the village, or perhaps even
passed on to other neighboring hamlets. Others are thus
induced to migrate — selling their belongings, mortgaging
their property, almost enslaving themselves to procure the
amount of the passage. They come, find employment at
what seems to them fabulous wages, write letters home;
and so the process goes on and on, until some of the rural
districts of such countries as Italy and Hungary are
almost depopulated.

"Now Greece and Turkey are becoming involved in the

same influences This is an influence with which it

is difficult, if not impossible, to reckon. That it is a telling,
if not the most important, factor in the production of
immigration there can be no doubt. The worst of it is
that there are evidences that this endless chain letter
scheme is seized upon by the promoters and money lenders
to further their interests, and no opportunity lost to
encourage both the writing and the extensive dissemina-
tion of such missives. When this is done the line is passed

SOURCES AND MEANS OF EMIGRATION

between natural and forced immigration, and the machina-
tions of the promoter and usurer become a menace to the
alien directly and to the welfare of this country incident-
ally/'

Practically every Greek who starts for America has
in his pocket a letter from some fellow countryman in
America, or at least a business card of some Greek who
has established himself on this side. The great majorit^^
have some relative or close friend here. We may go still
further and say with safety that almost without exception
Greek emigrants know to just what place in the United
States they are going, and in the great majority of cases
have a very definite idea of what work they are going to
do when they get here. They are very chary about admit-
ting the truth of the last statement, however, especially
if they have the least suspicion that their questioner has
any connection with the United States government. For
the United States immigration laws deny admission to
any aliens *Vho have been induced or solicited to migrate
to this coimtry by offers or promises of employment or
in consequence of agreements, oral, written or printed,
express or impUed, to perform labor in this country of
any kind, skilled or unskilled." The letter of this law is
violated wholesale by Greek immigrants. To what extent
the spirit also suffers it is quite impossible to say. It is
a very easy thing for people with the craft and cleverness
of the Greeks to cover up any illegality in a case of this
sort. It is a common thing to see a Greek who has been
in America for a few years returning to his fatherland for
a few months' visit, and then going back to America, tak-
ing with him a group of half a dozen or more of his friends
and neighbors. It is quite beyond the realm of possi^

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bility for any stranger to find out by what inducements
or promises he has persuaded them to accompany him. A
fuller discussion of the contract labor system among the
Greeks may be found on page 186.

In the little village of Tsipiana, tucked away among the
rocky hills of central Greece, there was living a short time
ago a fine young lad with a handsome ovai face, wavy
hair, and a well-knit, sturdy frame. His name was Con-
stantinos Panagopoulos, but the villagers called him
Costa, and for convenience sake we will follow their
example. Costa was the youngest child of a family of
five, three boys and two girls. His father he had never
known, as he had been one of those who lost their lives in
the ill-advised Turkish war of 1897, when Costa was little
more than a year old. The loss of the chief bread-winner
was a hard blow for the family, whose circumstances had
never been easy, but they all rose to the occasion and took
up the new burdens that presented themselves. Fortu-
nately, they owned a small plot of land just outside the
village. Part of this was laid out in vineyard and the
rest was given to the cultivation of wheat. The remain-
ing property of the family consisted in a donkey and a
few sheep. The little stone cottage in the village, too,
belonged to them. This put them in independent circum-
stances, and they were about as well o£P as the average of
their fellow villagers. After the father's death, the
remaining members of the family divided the labor of
cultivating their little piece of ground among them. As
soon as Costa was able to walk he used to go out with one
of his brothers or sisters and help watch the little flock
of sheep as they browsed on the hillside.

But about this time there began to be a new stir, in the

SOURCES AND MEANS OF EMIGRATION

village. WeU-dressed men with flaahing dianKHidB and
gold watches, and a fascinating air of prosperity and
worldliness, frequently drove over from TripoKs, and sat
about the coffee-houses of the viUage, telling strange tales
of a glorious, far-away land called America, where money
could almost be had for the asking, and where the build-
ings were half a mile high, and strange carriages without
hones ran about the streets. More than this, there was
work there for everybody and a man could get rich in
five years. These men said they had been there and seen
all these things, and so it seemed that it must be so. The
villagers used to hang around these men in open-mouthed
wonder and Costa's two brothers were often in the group.
One day one of the flashy strangers walked out to the
field where the two boys were working and had a long con-
versation with them. He asked them why they did not
leave this dull and poor little village, where they had no
hope of ever being better off than they were then, and go
aipiay to America where they could very soon make a for-
tune and provide a luxurious home for themselves and
Iheir family. He said he had a friend in Chicago who was
running a large establishment and who needed several boys
to do easy work for him, and he would use his influence to
get the boys a position with the Chicago man. His con-
versation inspired the boys with a keen desire to get away
to this wonderful land, and they said that if they had the
money they would certainly go. But it reaUy was no use
thinking of it, for they scarcely could get money enough
together to supply the needs of the family, to say nothing
of taking trips across the ocean. But the wonderful man
overcame every objection. He said that he would provide
them tickets all the way to Chicago. Of course he would

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take a mortgage on their property, just for the form's
sake, but when they reached America they could earn
enough in a very few months to pay that off, and have
some laid up for tbemselveg.

The upshot of the matter was that the boys were won
over. They in turn persuaded their mother, and in the
spring of 1901 they started for America. Then began a
period of still greater hardship for those who were left.
The entire burden of cultivating the field fell on the mother
and the two girls, while Costa had to spend all his days
watching the sheep. After a couple of months letters
began to come from the boys. They were full of dis-
appointment. The "establishment" was a small shoe-
shining parlor where they had to work fifteen or sixteen
hours a day, at wages so small that only by dint of the
strictest economy and cruel self-denial could they save
even the smallest sums weekly. Moreover, they learned
that they had been grievously overcharged for their
tickets, but the mortgage was in writing and the interest
must be paid promptly, whatever befell.

But as the years went by things began to look brighter.

First the boys wrote that they were getting better wages,

and were able to begin to make payments on the principal

of the mortgage. Then one day came a letter bringing

with it enough money to pay off the entire balance of the

heavy debt. What a day of rejoicing that was! From

mt prosperously. In a short time

ley had bought a little candy store

isinesH for themselves. For a while

rought less money than before, but

m the sums of money which came

began to assume proportions that

SOURCES AND MEANS OF EMIGRATION

seemed fabulous. These were laid by, until the total was
sufBcient to pay for the erection of a fine new house, almost
the best one in the village.

Thus Costa grew up with his eyes turned toward Amer-
ica. His brothers were not the only ones who had gone
to that wonderful land. Every year the number of vil-
lagers who left for the United States increased, until by
the time Costa was about thirteen there were hardly any
young men left in the village. With the dowry provided
by the boys in America the elder daughter had been mar-
ried. Her husband, too, had left very soon for America
but he promised to send for her soon and she was waiting
in patience. The younger daughter, though she too had
a good dowry, was still unmarried — ^there were so few men
in the village.

At last early in the year 1909, Costa received a letter
from his elder brother. It contained several strange-
looking slips of paper, fastened together, and read some-
thing like this :

Chicago, Ills., Dec. 28, 1908.
Dear Costa:

The time we have been so long expecting has at last arrived.
Our business has reached the point where we need another
helper, and we want yon to come over and help us. I enclose
a complete ticket from Tripolis to Chicago, all paid for. All
you have to do is to. show it to the men as you go along. Have
dear mother give yon a written paper showing that you have
her permission to come, as you are not yet sixteen. We will
pay you the same wages as we would pay any other clerk.
Take the greatest care of yourself, dear Costa, and come
quickly. Kiss my beloved mother and sisters for me. I kiss
you on the two eyes.

Your affectionate brother.

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Needless to say this missive caused great excitement and
joy in the boy's heart. The steamship ticket was for a
third-class passage on a big ship sailing from Patras early
in March — ^the favorite ship for Greek immigrants, as
Costa well knew from having heard it talked of often by
the group in the coffee-house.

His preparations for the voyage were simple and were
soon made. His few clothes were packed into a new tele-
scope which he purchased in Tripolis. He took a fine,
large woolen rug, which his mother had made, for his pro-
tection on the voyage. In a small basket he carried some
bread and cheese, a number of oranges, and a good-sized
bottle of wine. He understood that food was furnished
on the ship, but it might not be good, and anyway it was
just as well to be on the safe side. Quite a number of the
other young men and boys of the village, and one or two
older men, were going on the same steamer, and the party
made quite a little cavalcade as they started out to walk
to Tripolis, where they were to take the train, their goods
loaded on donkeys which trotted along ahead of them.
This kept Costa from feeling as lonesome as he otherwise
would have, and the excitement of the coming voyage
almost drowned the feeling of homesickness that tried to
rise in his bosom as he kissed his mother and sisters good-
bye.

The trip to Patras was uneventful. The trains were
full of people talking about America. Some of the pas-
sengers had been there before — ^you could tell them by their
queer, flat, square-cornered valises, their different clothes,
and their easy, prosperous appearance. They reached
Patras on Saturday evening, and put up at one of the
many cheap hotels in which the city abounds. In the

SOURCES AND MEANS OF EMIGRATION

morning, Costa went with the others to the steamship
office to see what he needed to do. First of all, they took
his name, age, and the name of his village, and measured
his height, and noted the color of his hair and eyes, and
asked him whether he had ever been in prison. All these
things and more, were put down on a piece of paper.
Then they told him that he must bring his baggage around
to their warehouse and deposit it to be disinfected. Then
there would be nothing to do until the day of sailing, when
he must come around for the inspection. So Costa at once
went around to the hotel and got his big valise and carried
it on his shoulders to the warehouse where it was deposited
on a shelf along with many others. The man in charge
pasted a red piece of paper on the end of it and gave
Costa the duplicate, telling him to keep it with all care.
Costa spent the rest of the day strolling around the city,
watching the novel sights of the seaport, strange to the
eyes of the inland boy, and using up a part of the money
that his mother had given him to carry in his pocket, in
purchasing from some of the push-cart men, who thronged
the streets around the steamship office, some little things
that he thought he miffht not be able to buy satisfactorily
in America — a key-ring and chain, som^^ socks, a^pair of
scissors and a little mirror and comb in a leather case, in
the interest of his budding mustache. He gave the gam-
bling games a wide berth, having received some wholesome
instructions on this point from his mother before he left.
He stopped for a moment to watch a street dentist who
was operating in a carriage on one of the street comers
in the midst of a large crowd, but the sight did not please
him *and he passed on.

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The next morning he was up bright and early so as not
to get left. The ship had not come in yet and so he wan-
dered around, not getting far away from the steamship
office which was the headquarters of all his friends. When
noon came and the ship had not arrived there was a
good deal of anxiety among the prospective passengers.
Finally an announcement was made from the steamship
office that the boat would not be in until about five o'clock
the next morning, and that if they would all come around
at six o'clock that evening they would be given two
drachmas each to pay for their lodging that night. Costa
scarce dared leave the office all that afternoon for fear he
should not be there when the distribution took place.

He was up bright and early the next morning and was
standing on the end of the pier when the great ship sailed
in. She seemed to Costa the biggest thing he had ever
seen. When he could tear himself away from looking at
her he went around to the office to be inspected. He
found a great throng gathered around the door. Men
were being allowed to enter slowly, but it seemed as if there
was no chance that he would ever be able to get in. He
noticed a number of men counting over American money,
which he recognized at once as he had often seen his mother
take it out from the letters from America. This reminded
him that he had not yet changed his own money and he
ran off at once to do it. But he met with considerable
difficulty. The first four money changers that he went
to said that their American money was all gone. But
finally he found one who had two five dollar bills and ten
ones, which was just what Costa needed. So he went back
to the office, much relieved. It was now getting along
towards noon, and the crowd had thinned out somewhat.

SOURCES AND MEANS OF EMIGRATION

The boat was scheduled to sail at five and so Costa thought
that he had plenty of time.

Outside of the office was a sort of gate which a man
opened every little while and allowed fifty passengers to
come inside. Costa waited his turn and by and by was
admitted within the gate. He found himself in the end
of a narrow alley-way, enclosed by an iron railings down
which the emigrants were moving in single file. Just
ahead of him was a man of about thirty-five whom he rec-
ognized as one of the men who had been in America. This
man took charge of him and explained the different occur-
rences as they went along. First of all they came to a
man who examined their money and their tickets. Costa
showed his twenty dollars and was allowed to pass, but
the boy just behind him, who had only twelve dollars, was
sent back, with the brusque query, ^^Can't you find some-
body to give you a little more than that? " Ahead of
him he saw the men rolling up their right sleeves to the
elbow and so he rolled up his. Almost before he knew it a
man seized his hand and held it while he dipped a little
steel needle in a sort of liquid in a glass watch crystal, and
then scratched his arm with it. He asked his guide what
that was for and was told that it was vaccination, to keep
him from having the smallpox. In another part of the
room he saw a few women being examined. They had been
allowed to come in out of the regular order so that they
might not have to wait. There were very few wAmen in
the crowd. Costa passed along the alley until near the
end he saw another big man standing. He asked his guide
who that was, and was told: **That is the doctor. The
company pays him to examine all their passengers and see
if they will be allowed to enter America, for if they bring

•7

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over any who are not admissible they must not only bring
them back free, but must pay a fine of $100 for each one.*'

By this time Costa was under the doctor's hands. He
turned up his eyelids, examined his scalp, and felt of his
abdomen to see if he had hernia, so the man ahead told him.

The doctor found Costa sound and he was allowed to
pass on. Behind a desk sat a couple of men. One of
them took Costa's ticket and stamped ^^Vaccinated" on
it; the other took him by the wrist and stamped a little
triangular mark on it, telling him that that showed that
he had been through, and was all ready to start for Amer-
ica. Just as Costa was about to leave the room he heard
the doctor say ^^Respinto" and saw a look of disappoint-
ment pass over the face of the man he had just examined.

*^What does ^Respinto' mean? " Costa asked his friend.

**That means that the man appears to have some dis-
ease, probably trachoma, and that he must wait and have
a special examination, and perhaps will not be allowed to
go to America at all."

'^Do many have to go back that way? " asked Costa.

"Not very many," replied his friend. **You see, the
agents in the villages examine them before they send them
down here, and most of those who could not be admitted
to America are stopped there. The agent of this com-
pany says that they only have twelve or fifteen cases, out
of a shipload of passengers, whom they will not take, and
only two or three from each ship are sent back from
America."

By this time Costa was outside. He went around to
the warehouse, which smelt strongly of sulphur fumes,
presented his slip of paper and got his valise. As he
stepped outside, however, and started for the pier, he sud-

SOURCES AND MEANS OF EMIGRATION

denly gave a cry of consternation, dropped his valise, and
stood stock still. There was the great ship sailing down
the bay! The tears sprang to his eyes. So he was left
after all! Oh, why hadn't he taken pains to get around
earlier? Slowly he picked up his bag and walked down
towards the pier, simply because he did not know what else
to do. But look ! She seems to be turning around. Yes,
she is, she is coming back. Costa hurried on down to the
pier and, seeing some one whom he knew, he asked what
the matter was. He was told that a sudden squall had
come up and that the ship had pulled up one of the moor-
ing posts, and had to put out into the bay to keep from
blowing on to the other ships in the harbor. Costa was
much relieved, and waited patiently until two or three
hours later the ship came back inside the breakwater once
more. Then he got into one of the small boats, provided
by the company and flying their flag, and was carried out
to the gangway of the big ship. Shouldering his valise
once more he climbed up to the top. There stood a man
in uniform who examined his tickets and searched his
clothes for knives or firearms. The next moment he was
on the deck of the ship. He followed the crowd down the
narrow stairway into the body of the ship, where he was
assigned a bunk. He deposited his baggage on the mat-
tress, which was the only bedding there, and went up on
deck. As he had eaten nothing since morning he was very
glad when he saw a steward coming with a big pail of stew
and some tin plates. After he had eaten he stood about
the deck, watching the trunks and boxes being loaded and
all the other fascinating sights attendant upon the de-
parture of a big ship. One man who looked different from
the Greeks and seemed to be a person of some importance,

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attracted his attention. On inquiry, he learned that this
was the American consul, who had come on board to see
that everything was all right. At Iflist, about nine o'clock,
the big whistle blew, the big ship began to move, slowly at
first and then faster and faster, and Costa realized that
he was really started for America.

The first day out was very rough, and Costa spent the
whole of it in his bunk, wretchedly seasick. Practically
all of the other passengers around him as far he could see
were in the same condition, some a little better, some worse.
Costa's bunk was near the stem of the ship and it seemed
to him that he was rising and falling hundreds of feet at
a jump. Every once in a while there came a horrid
whirring and trembling which some one told him was the
propellers going out of the water. The air became vile,
and the steel floors filthy. Occasionally a ship's boy came
around with a pail of sawdust, but that helped little.
Altogether, it was a miserable day, and Costa wished more
than once that he had never heard of America.

Late in the evening, however, the ship seemed to quiet
down, and before he knew it Costa ^€is sound asleep.
When he woke in the morning, the sea was as smooth as
glass and the deck of the ship was as steady as the floor
of the new house in his own little village. Costa found him-
self feeling as fine as ever, and put in the day examining
the ship. He was an attractive little lad, and was allowed
to go where many others would not have been. Before
the day was over he had become well acquainted with one
of the Greek seamen on board, who took a great fancy to
the little chap and spent a good deal of his leisure time
talking with him, and even allowed him to accompany him
on some of his duties. Costa thus acquired many inter-

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SOURCES AND MEANS OF EMIGJU.TION

esting facts about the ship and its passengers. ,'1\)e ship
had begun her voyage at Trieste, and there wereqiEjioard
900 Slay passengers in the third class, in addition .tblthe
thousand Greeks who had got on board at Patrcis. Tlie*
Slavs were mostly in the forward part of the ship, wftl^,*,
the Greeks were in the rear and central portions. Th<f]'.
few women on board were in the best part of the ship near *'
the center. The whole available space on two of the lower
decks of the ship was given up to bunks. This part of
the ship was filled with a sort of scaffolding or framework
of iron pipes, so constructed as to provide two tiers of
sleeping places, one above the other, with just room enough
for aisles so that the passengers could get to their bunks.
There were no springs and the hard mattresses were laid
on a sort of lattice of steel straps. Still, Costa was not
used to springs and he did not mind this any. One day
he took a little tape measure which he had in his pocket —
one of his purchases from a push-cart man in Patras —
and measured his bunk. He found that it was six feet one
inch by two feet one inch. The edge of his bunk was
eighteen inches above the floor. There was a space of
twenty-eight inches between his bunk and the one above it,
and then forty inches more up to the roof. This gave
Costa plenty of room, and even the larger men were not
badly crowded. The only difficulty was that each pas-
senger had to make room in his own bunk for his baggage.
Many of the men hung theirs up, tying them to the pipes
of which the scaffolding was made. Every bunk in the
ship was occupied, and they had even spread mattresses
on some of the closed hatchways, and men were sleeping
there.

On the whole, as soon as his seasickness was over, Costa

101

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felt vc^. comfortable and happy. He spent a good share
of his iijne on one of the decks which were reserved for the
thb*d*< class passengers. Occasionally he would go and
-sjt for a while in the **recreation room," where most of the
-^ p%6sengers spent their time. But this was always crowded
''./';and the benches which ran alongside the long tables were
'.'*' always packed with men, talking and playing cards. The
room was full of tobacco smoke and very noisy, and Costa
did not particularly enjoy it. There were a number of
the passengers who scarcely left their bunks from one day's
end to another, but just lay there in a sort of stupor.
Only a few took advantage of the pleasant outside decks,
except on two occasions when the ship stopped in some of
the Mediterranean ports for a few hours. Then every-
body thronged on deck, and spent the time dancing, sing-
ing and playing games. Several of the passengers had
musical instruments with them, and Costa used to love to
hear them play and watch the men dance, though of course
he was too young to be allowed to join in.

Costa had been unusually well trained in matters of
cleanliness, for a Greek boy, and he was disgusted with
the slovenly habits of some of his fellow passengers. He
used to smile to himself when he heard them complaining
that it was not a good ship because it smelled so bad, for
even he had sense enough to know that it was largely their
own fault. He did his best to keep himself clean, though
there was no great opportunity to do so. But the smell
of the toilet rooms was awful, and Costa dreaded to go
past them, as he had to every time he went from his bunk
to the deck.

Another thing that amused Costa was to hear the men
complaining about the food, for he knew that the majority

102

• * •

• • •

'•• •

• . •

• •

'• _•

SOURCES AND MEANS OF EMIGRATION

of them at home lived on bread and olives and cheese. He
rather smiled at himself when he thought of the little basket
of food that he had brought with him, though he was glad
that he had the oranges. But on the whole, the food was
quite as good as he had been used to, even after the days
of prosperity began. Here is his bill of fare for a week :

Monday: Breakfast, Stew, coffee, bread

Dinner, Pea soup, meat with potatoes

Supper, Crackers, stock-fish with potatoes
Tuesday: Breakfast, Cheese, coffee, bread

Dinner^ Macaroni soap, stewed peas

Supper, Meat with potatoes, walnuts
Wednesday: Breakfast, Prmies, tea, bread

Dinner, Stew, oliyes, cheese

Supper, Stock-fish with potatoes
Thursday: Breakfast, Sausages^ coffee^ bread

Dinner, Rice with oil^ boiled meat

Supper, Spaghetti in broth, meat with potatoes
Friday: Breakfast^ Tunny, tea^ bread

Dinner, Pastry in broth^ meat with olives

Supper^ Ragout of meat with potatoes
Saturday: Breakfast, Herrings, coffee, bread

Dinner, Rice, meat with beans

Supper, Macaroni in broth, meat with cabbage
Sunday: Breakfast, Cheese, tea, bread

Dinner, Bean soup, sardines in olive oil

Supper, Rice with meat, tunny with potatoes

There were two good clean kitchens for the third class,
one toward the bow and one toward the stem. The cook-
ing was good, and Costa kept in first-rate health.

The voyage was in the main uneventful. Most of the
men still spent their time below deck, either in the recrea-
tion room, or in their bunks. Some read, many played

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cards, all talked. Those who had been in America before
were besieged with questions in regard to the landing, the
possibility of being rejected, the climate in America, the
probable date of arrival, etc. A few who knew a little
English borrowed American magazines from the first-class
passengers who occasionally came down to the lower deck.
Most of the men, however, spent a good share of their time
lying or sitting around in a sort of semi-stupor, appar-
ently indifferent to the length of the voyage and almost
everything else except their food.

But about the tenth day out Costa found himself grow-
ing restless and impatient. The novelty of the sea had
worn off and he was getting anxious to see land and most
of all to reach his brothers whom he had not seen for so
long. The monotony was broken for him in a way he
would hardly have desired. One rather rough day he was
descending one of the slippery iron stairways when the
ship gave a sudden lurch. Costa lost his hold on the rail-
ing and was thrown violently to the deck beneath. The
next thing he knew he found himself lying between two
clean sheets in a nicely painted room, with a man in uni-
form bending over him, whom he recognized as the ship's
doctor. He soon learned that he was in the third-class
hospital, and it was so clean and nice that he almost wished
that he could stay there until the end of the voyage.
There were about fifteen other men in the room. Costa
was told that there was another hospital just like it for
the women on the other side of the ship.

His injury proved to be only a temporary one, and the
next day he was on deck again as well as ever. He
learned that he had missed one rather interesting occur-
rence. The day before, all the third-class passengers had

104

SOURCES AND MEANS OF EMIGRATION

been made to pass in single iSIe before the purser while
their tickets were examined. Those -who had been passed
£^t a good deal of amusement poking fun at the others as
they came along. One miserable stowaway had been
found, half-starved, in one of the coal bunkers.

The remainder of the voyage passed without event and
Costa was more than glad when early one morning his
sailor friend pointed out a misty spot of something way
ahead on the horizon and told him that that was America.
The ship reached its dock about the middle of the after-
noon. Costa, along with the other third-class passengers,
was hurried onto a steam barge which lay waiting and
carried across the bay to Ellis Island, about which he had
heard so much from the men on the ship. The numerous
iron-railed alleyways through which he had to pass re-
minded him of the steamship office in Patras, only every-
thing here was so much grander and on an infinitely larger
scale. He answered all the questions asked him bravely
and truthfully, and in an incredibly short time found him-
self standing once more on the deck of a barge, on his way
back to the city, which loomed so wonderful and magnifi-
cent and fascinating in the distance. His railroad ticket
was pinned to his coat lapel, and he was in a group of
about fifteen other Greeks, all bound for Chicago. He
followed their guidance, and the next thing he knew he
was in a railroad car that seemed to him immense, and was
whirling away through the darkness toward the great
western city where his brothers were awaiting him.
Everybody had been kind to him, and while as yet every-
thing seemed terribly confused, and his mind was in a sort
of daze, he felt that America was an even better country
then he had hoped for, and he was well content to be here.

105

PART II
THE GREEKS IN THE UNITED STATES

CHAPTER VI

Statistical Review

UP to the last decade of the nineteenth century Oreek
immigration into the United States was not of
sufficient volume to be called a movement. (See Table 6.)
Not until 1891 did the figures reach 1,000, and during the
nineties they did not rise above S,600. But with the
beginning of the present century, for the reasons enumer-
ated in the preceding pages, this current of immigration
began to increase by leaps and bounds. For the three
consecutive years, 1905-06-07, it approximately doubled
annually, reaching in the last year the climax of 46,283.
It is impossible to say how long this ratio of increase would
have maintained itself had not the crisis of 1907 inter-
vened to check it. As it was, Greek immigration for the
fiscal year ending June SO, 1908, fell to 28,808, a decrease
of 41 per cent from the preceding year, as compared with
a decrease of 89 per cent of the total immigration to this
country for that year. This slackness continued during
the winter of 1908-09. But with the reviving of trade in
the United States, the emigration movement took on a new
lease of life and the spring of 1909 bade fair to be the live-
liest in the emigration business from Greece since the incep-
tion of the movement. On the first two days of March,
1909, two ships of a certain steamship line carried from
Patras 1,600 Greek emigrants bound for New York.*

'This promise was not yerifled for the whole year 1900, nor has
the record of 1907 been quite reached even in 1910.

109

GREEK IMMIGRATION

The figures referred to give only the number of Greek
immigrants admitted to this country in the respectiye
years. To gain an accurate idea of the number of Greeks
in this country in any year it is necessary also to know
the number who have returned to their homes from year
to year. This, unfortunately, it is impossible to deter-
mine. Only within the last three years have the reports
of the Commissioner-General of Immigration given the
necessary data. The steamship companies keep no
records of the number of steerage passengers whom they
bring back to Greece. Even if they did, these figures
would be inconclusive, for the returning Greeks come in
driblets, half a dozen or a score at a time, and by a great
variety of routes. They come by direct lines to Patras
and the Piraeus; they come by way of Naples, or across
France, or through Switzerland and Italy, or even by way
of Grermany. It is difficult to get a steamship agent even
to make an estimate of the proportion between the depart-
ing and returning emigrants. Mr. Horton's reports state
that from the best sources available, not over 1,500 returns
may be set down as the figure for the year 1907. The
Commissioner-Greneral's report for 1908 gives the number
of departures during that year as 6,76S. But this was
an exceptional year. From the number of Greeks one
meets in Greece who have been in the United States the
number of returns must be considerable. Perhaps the
ratio of one tenth of the admissions of a given year comes
as near expressing the number of returns as any we could
hope to get. Adopting this ratio, and applying it to the
figures given in the table, the Greek population of the
United States for the last ten years would be approxi-
mately as foUows:

110

STATISTICAL REVIEW

1900 8,656

1901 13,983

1909 91387

1903 34,996

1904 45^88

1906 66^19

1906 77,334

1907 118,989

1908 141,034

1909 164,369

1910 184,907

The tendency for Oreeks is usually to over-estimate the
niunber of their countrymen in the United States. As
much as two years ago, some said ISO^OOO; others put the
figure at S00,000 or even SOO^OOO. An interesting basis of
comparison may be found in two books, to which we will
have frequent occasion to refer. They are the Thermopylae
Almanac, 1904, by John Booras, and the Greek- American
Guide, 1909, by S. G. Canoutas, both printed in Greek and
published in New York City. They contain a variety of
information, statistical and otherwise, of interest to the
actual or prospective Greek resident of the United States.
The former volume (see Table 8) gives the Greek popula-
tion of the United States for the year 1904 as 67,241. Of
these, 43,609 (through a mistake in addition the figure in
the book is 48,241) are assigned to various cities and
states. The balance are said to be working on various rail-
roads and in factories. This balance is doubtless much
over-estimated. Cutting it down radically will bring this
estimate within the neighborhood of the figure given above.
The Greek- American Guide (page S6) estimates the num-
ber of Greeks in the United States at 150,000, but in a
short article in English on a later page (page S67) among
other shocking inaccuracies the statement is made that

111

GREEK IMMIGRATION

*Hhe total number of Greeks throughout the United States
is coDserratiTely estimated at a quarter of a million." It
is only justice to saj that this short English article is the
only part of the book that contains such glaiing absurd-
ities. The rest of the volume appears to be carefully
compiled and soberly written. For the year 1909, 160,000
would probably come very near to the number of Greeks
in the United States.

Tables 9, 10, 11 and 1ft give a sort of statistical picture
of the condition of Greek immigrants on their arrival in
America, from the point of view of the immigration
authorities. Several striking features attract the atten-
tion at once. Perhaps the most remarkable of these is the
very high proportion of males, ranging with surprising
constancy around 96 per cent. This means that Greek
immigration is not in any sense an inunigration of families,
but almost entirely of unmarried men, or of men of family
who have left their wives on the other side. There is no
means of determining how these two classes compare in
numbers, but it is probable that they are approximately
equaL This high proportion of males is a very important
fact, and is accountable for many of the unfortunate con-
ditions that affect Greek society in this country. There is
a slight improvement in this respect in the last three years,
though the decrease may be partly due to the industrial
situation in this country. Greek women who come to
for the most part to join husbands who
themselves in business on this side. Hence
I are not so much affected by depressed
tions as those of the men whose living is
leir finding work. For purposes of corn-
lowing percentages are given for some of
112

l# •* w

• • - - *

STATISTICAL REVIEW

tlie other leading races of immigrants, chosen from the
year 1907 in preference to 1908, as being a more normal

PsmcBKTAOB or Maixm, 1907.

Gennans . *. 60.4

Hebrews 53.9

Italians (north) 79.4

Italians (south) 78.7

Scandinavians 63.9

Bulgarians, Servians, Montenegrins 97.9

From these figures, and similar ones not quoted for
other races, it is evident that while aU the more recently
immigrating races show a considerable preponderance of
males, there is none of the leading peoples that even
approaches the Greeks in this respect with the exception
of the Bulgarians, Servians and Montenegrins, by whom
they are exceeded.

Another striking fact about the Greek immigrants, in
which, however, they resemble other recently immigrating
races, is the very large proportion in the middle agev.
groups, between fourteen and forty-five. This includes
nearly the entire body of Greeks. Of the small remainder,
the greater part are children under fourteen yeard of age.
Their number averaged a little less than 10 per cent of
the total, until 190S, when there was a sudden decrease.
This is a decidedly large proportion of children when we
consider that there is practically no family emigration.
They are for the most part boys imported under the
padrone system (see page 172) and the sharp decline in
1904 probably represents the strenuous efforts of the
government officials to check this practice. Greek immi-

118

GREEK nOOGlLATION

grants of fortj-fire and ofrer are a negligible quantitj.
Like the tex distribation, the age distribation has an
important bearing on several phases of Greek life in this
country.

Whether the literacy or illiteracy of a group of immi-
grants is a matter of importance or not depends <m one's
conception of the function of the immigrant in this
country. If we adopt the idea, which is probably the pre-
vailing one in the United States, that the business of the
immigrant is to do the hard and menial work of the
country which is beneath the dignity of a native Ameri-
can, then perhaps the more dull, stolid and devoid of
ambition or culture the foreigners are, the better it will
be, provided only they have sturdy bodies and humble
spirits. In fact, under our present system — or lack of
system — of handling the immigrants, the class of aliens
which has the hardest time to get along comprises those
of a moderate education, clerks, bookkeepers, mediocre
musicians and the like, who are unable or unwilling to do
the hard work of the country, and are unable to meet the
competition of native Americans in the lines of occupation
to which they have been trained in foreign countries. But
if we hope to make true American citizens of the new-
comers, to imbue them with the ideals and spirit of this
country, to fit them to take an active place in the higher
and varied departments of our national life, it cannot be
denied that those who have had the ability, the energy
and the opportunity to secure a moderate amount of
education in their home land make better material for our
purposes than the opposite class. At least, the degree
of illiteracy of a people is usually taken as an indication
of their intellectual quality, and often of their desirability

114

STATISTICAL REVIEW

as citizens, and for this reason it may be of profit to make
some comparisons in this respect between the Greeks and
a few other typical nationalities. A glance at Table 9
win show that in 1900 the percentage of Greek immi-
grants who could neither read nor write was about 16.S.
In the next year it suddenly sprang to 2S.69 the following i
year to 27.4, when it fell off again and remained in the '
neighborhood of 23 until 1907 when there was another
sudden rise to SO.O and in 1908, 27.6. Comparing this
with five of the other leading races, we find that the total
percentage of illiteracy for aU the immigrants of those
nationalities, for the years 1900-08 inclusive, was as fol-
lows: Grermans, 4.2 per cent; Hebrews, 19.4 per cent;
North Italians, 10.4 per cent; South Italians, 49.7 per
cent ; Scandinavians, 0.4 per cent. It is thus evident that
while the Greeks are much superior to the South Italians,
they are decidedly Inferior to the northern races, and to
the Hebrews. We are inclined to believe that there was
a good deal of truth in the statement of the old Greek
that the compulsory education law in Greece is ^^not
always applied."

Mr. Prescott F. Hall in his book on ^^Immigration''
gives a good deal of space to the discussion of the illit-
eracy test as a proposed measure of legislation. Whether
or not such a restriction is desirable is, as we have inferred
above, largely a matter of individual opinion. There can
be no doubt that it would have considerable effectiveness
in cutting down the mere bulk of immigration, if that is
an end to be sought.

The matter of the amount of money shown is of com*
paratively small importance. Immigrants as a rule show
only so much money as they think is necessary to get them

115

GREEK IMMIGRATION

through. Table 10 is presented only as a matter of
incidental interest, and not as furnishing any particular
criterion of the financial status of Greek immigrants on
their arrival.

The figures showing the number of immigrants who have
been in the United States before are of much greater
interest. If the ratio of returns which we have adopted
above (see page 110) is correct, it becomes evident that
the number of Greeks who return to their native land to
remain permanently is very small indeed.

Table 11 gives the number of Greek immigrants
debarred, with the reasons therefor, the number relieved
in the hospital, and the number returned after one, two
or three years under the various provisions of the law.
We see that the per cent of debarred for the nine years
ranges between the minimum of 1.0 per cent in 1905S, and
4.S per cent in the succeeding year. Comparing these
percentages with the per cent of the total immigration
debarred, given in the same table, we see that the per-
centage of Greeks debarred is much above the average —
from two to five times as great. If we compare them
with the five nationalities which have been chosen as a
basis of comparison, we find them considerably inferior
to each, even to the South Italians. The percentages
of debarred for these nationalities for the nine-year
period, 1900-1908, are as follows : Grermans, 0.7 per cent ;
Hebrews, 0.9 per cent ; North Italians, 0.6 per cent ; South
Italians, 1.8 per cent; Scandinavians, 0.2 per cent. The
principal causes of debarment for the Greeks were pauper-
ism or likelihood to become a public charge, loathsome or
dangerous contagious diseases, and contract labor, the
first class being the most important for all the years of

116

STATISTICAL REVIEW

the span except 1906, when it was surpassed by contract
labor.

As far as the eyidence of these statistics goes there
seems to have been a steady decline in the quality of Greek
immigration during the nine years in question. This is
what might be expected from the considerations dis~
cussed on page 86.

This indication is sustained by the figures for the
general classification by industries, which are given in
Table 12. Here there is an almost steady increase in the
proportion of unskilled, from 66 per cent in 1900 to 91
per cent in 1907, with a slight drop to 87 per cent in 1908.
The proportion of laborers has steadily gained over the
farm laborers. It seems probable, however, that this
should be taken as an indication that the Greeks are
learning to answer these questions with reference to the
work they expect to do in this country, rather than that
there is any difference in the sources from which they
come. Greek immigrants still come almost entirely from
the peasant or agricultural class.

The Greeks are a decidedly gregarious and clannish
lot, and tend to herd together. This fact, in connection !
with their occupations, tends to lead them into city life.
According to the census of 1900, out of the 8,564 Greeks
in continental United States, 6,840, or 74.2 per cent,
were in cities of 26,000 or over. This is a much larger
proportion than for the total foreign-born in this country,
of whom 47.8 per cent were in cities of 25,000 or over in
1900. It is also a larger percentage than for any single
one of the leading foreign-bom nationalities, the nearest
approach to it being in the case of those bom in Russia
(mostly Jews), of whom 78.4 per cent were in cities of

117

GREEK IMMIGRATION

the specified size. Over half of the Greeks in the United
States in 1900 (4,770) were in seven dties, Boston,
Chicago, Lowell, New York, Phihidelphia, San Francisco
and Savannah, and nearly half (4,005) in the three cities
of Chicago, Lowell and New York. This concentration
is not so marked at present.

On the other hand, also, the Greeks do not tend to
stagnate in the Atlantic coast states as much as some of
the other nationalities, particularly the Italians. Chicago
has always been one of ^ the most important Greek settle-
ments. Now they are becoming scattered throughout
the cities in all the states of the Union, and individuals
* are continually breaking away from the group and set-
tling in the smaller cities and towns, so that today it is
almost the exception to find even a small town that does
not have its representatives of t)|^s race. We have esti-
mated (see page 111) that in 1904 there were 45,689
irreeks in this country. Of these, according to Table
8, coi]9.piled from (the Thermopylae Almanac, 43,607 were
i ip ttf% cities in forty-nine states and territories. As
remarked above, these figures are probably all somewhat
exaggerated, but they are as near accurate as we could
hope to get. Table 18, copied from the Greek-American
Guide for 1909, gives the number of Greeks in the prin-
cipal cities of the United States. (G.-A. Guide, page 859.)

On account of the fact already mentioned, that practi-
cally every Greek immigrant knows, before he starts, just
what place in America he is going to, the statistics in
regard to the destination of Greek immigrants are more
varied and at the same time more reliable than those for
many other nationalities. They are presented in Table
14. The interesting thing about these figures is the way

118

STATISTICAL REVIEW

in whicdi the immigration to several of the states, such
as New Hampshire and Wisconsin, started only a few
years ago with practically nothing, and has grown to a
▼ery considerable stream. This shows the effects of the
^^chain-letter" system, particularly in the case of New
Hampshire, where the Greeks are very largely congre-
gated in the one city of Manchester.

From the foregoing statistical study it appears that
the Greeks are remarkable in several respects, namely, in
the hij^ proportion of males, reaching almost 100 per
cent; in the very large proportion in the middle age
groups; in the number of boys under fourteen; in the
percentage debarred and in the decided tendency to city
life. All of these factors have an important bearing on
their economic and social condition in this country, to the
study of which we now proceed.

119

CHAPTER VII

Greek Colonies in the United States

BEFORE undertaking the discussion of the life of the
Greeks in the United States, it will be helpful to give
a brief description of what is known as the ^^Greek Ortho-
dox Community." The extreme loyalty of the modem
Greek to the formal worship of the national church has
already been noticed. As soon as a few Greeks get
together in some city or town in this country, one of the
first things that they think of is the establishment of a
place of worship. This is accomplished by the organiza-
tion of an orthodox community, which is not usually under-
taken until the number of Greeks in the locality reaches
800 or 400. This community is organized as a society
'^ '^and usually embraces practically all of the Greeks in the
locality. It has its officers, president, secretary, treas-
urer, etc., and various committees. The dues are some-
times regular and sometimes voluntary. Ydiile the
primary purposes of this organization are religious, such
as the securing and support of a priest, and the mainte-
nance of a place of worship, it also serves various social
and fraternal ends. To avoid confusion, the word *^com-
munity" hereafter will be used to designate such an organi-
zation, while a mere aggregation of a number of Greeks
in any locality will be termed a "colony.'* Owing to the
prevalence of these communities, combined with the general
clannishness of the Greeks, it is possible to get very accu-
rate and detailed data along certain lines, regarding the

190

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

Greeks in this country. The presidents and secretaries
of these organizations are usually well informed as to the
number and occupations of the members of their communi*
ties, and the information which they will furnish in regard
to these points is more accurate than the investigator
could hope to obtain in any other way. In regard to
certain other classes of information, however, their state-
ments must be taken with a good^ deal of caution, for as a
rule they are unwilling to make any statements wbift^ will
tend to cast discredit on their countrymen. Some of
these communities are incorporated under state laws.

Within the last two or three years, as a result of the
efforts of the Greek ambassador, Mr. Coromilas, there has
been organized a national community, called the Pan*
HeUenic Union, combining, or supposed to combine, all
the societies in the United States. Among the purposes
of this organization as stated in its constitution are the
following: the defense of Greek interests and rights among
foreign nations, the ^^establishment of Phil-Hellenism in
America"( !), and the teaching of all Greeks how to
respect the laws and constitution of the United States and
to learn lessons from this great country and bring benefit
to themselves. It is said that half the dues collected by
this organization are to be used in helping Greek immi-
grants to get started in this country and the other half
in assisting the oppressed Greeks in Macedonia. This
national organization has by no means met with the
unanimous approval of the Greeks of this country, partly
because they regard it as an infringement on that per-
sonal liberty which they regard as an essential of Ameri-
can life, and partly because the ambassador is not held
in the highest esteem by some of the most intelligent citi-

121

GREEK IMMIGRATION

zens of that country which, as one of them said, *%e is
misrepresenting in Washington."

In taking up the study of Greek life in this country we
will adopt the plan of giving first a brief description of
some of the most important and characteristic Greek-
American colonies, and then proceeding to a more general
discussion of the various phases of the topic from a
national point of view.

The two most characteristic colonies are those of
Chicago and Lowell, the former representing the predomi-
nant class of settlements where the Greeks are mainly
established in independent business, the latter that smaller
class, to which such other cities as Lynn, Salem, HaverhiU
and Fall River, Massachusetts, and Nashua and Manches-
ter, New Hampshire, belong, where the majority of the
Greeks are employed in large manufacturing establish-
ments under the direction of Americans. The colony of
New York, while larger than either of these, is less com-
pact and localized, and holds a less prominent place in the
organization of the city.

The Greek Colony of Chicaoo.

Five years ago if a visitor to Chicago had alighted
from a Blue Island Avenue street car at Polk Street,
and had wandered around the neighborhood, along these
two streets and South Halsted and Ewing Streets, he
might almost have imagined that he was in Italy. The
stores, the houses, the people, the sights and sounds all
would have suggested a distinctly Italian character.
Within the space of five years, an ethnic revolution has
been worked in this district, until today it is just as dis-
tinctively Greek. Here, in the section of which Hull

122

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

House is the social center, are gathered the greater part
of the 15,000 Greeks who call Chicago their home.^

Taking all things into consideration, Chicago is prob-
ably the oldest and most important Greek colony in the
United States. Here, too, the Greeks have developed their
characteristic industries to the fullest extent. Yet the
Greek invasion of Chicago is comparatively a recent thing.
In 188S there were very few Greeks in the city, not enough
to have a community of their own. But they united with
the Slavs to form the ^^Gneco Slavic Brotherhood," and
secured a Greek priest.f For the next eighteen years the
colony grew very slowly, and in 1900, according to the
census figures, there were only 1,498 Greeks in the city.
But with the increase in Greek immigration which marked
the beginning of the present century, the Greek popula-
tion of Chicago augmented rapidly. In 1904 there were
7,500 Greeks in the city, and in 1909 about 15,000, of
whom 1S,000 may be considered permanent residents, and
the balance transients, who come and go, according as they
may have work in the city or on the railroad lines in the
states further west.

As the Greeks became more numerous they began to do
what they do in almost every city where they form con-
siderable settlements — ^they invaded the Italian section and
drove the Italians out of their homes and out of their busi-
nesses. The district which has been mentioned, around
Blue Island Avenue and Polk and South Halsted Streets,
is today more typically Greek than some sections of
Athens. Practically all the stores bear signs in both
Greek and English, coffee-houses flourish on every comer,

* Hull House Maps.
tG.-A. Guide, p. 199.

128

GBEEK niMIfflElATION

in the dark littk groctrj storei one sees hlmck oliTes, dried
ink-fish, tomato paste, and all the qoeer, nameLess roots and
condiments iHuch are so familiar in Greece. On every
hand one hears the Greek langaage, and the boys in the
streets and on the racant lots play, with eq[aal zest, Greek
games and basd>alL It is a self-sufficing colony, and pro-
vision is made to supply aD the wants of the Greek immi-
grant in as near as possible the Greek way. Restaurants,
coffee-houses, barber-shops, grocery stores and saloons are
aD patterned after the Greek type, and Greek doctors,
lawyers, editors and erery variety of agent are to be found
in abundance. As an indication of how thoroughly Hel-
lenized this district is, the following list of Greek business
establishments is given, aD found on Blue Island Avenue
in the one block between Polk and Ewing Streets, and the
two short blocks between Polk Street and Gktrley Street :

Meat mariut and grocery.

Coffee-house,

Labor agency.

Importers and steamship and railroad ticket agents,

Harness maker.

Tailor,

Barber-shop,

Row of two-story tenements.

Shoemaker,

Harness maker.

Drag store.

Candy and tobacco store, and pool hall.

Cognac store,

Restamrant, grocery and saloon.

Grocery,

Barber-shop,

Bakery,

124

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

Coffee-house,
GfToccry,
Tobacco store.
Coffee-house,
Greneral store.
Candy kitchen,
Coffee-honse.

All of these are distinctively Greek, and of the few remain-
ing business houses in these blocks several others are prob-
ably Greek.

The contrast between the Greek section and the Italian
quarter by which it is bordered is very marked. The
latter is much more crowded, dirty and noisy. Saloons of
a very disreputable appearance take the place of the
coffee-houses. Here, too, children are much more in evi-
dence. In the Greek section, for an hour or so after six
o'clock, the streets present a very lively appearance, as the
drivers and peddlers come home, unhitch their horses and
put them in the stables. But after this is over the settle-
ment quiets down and the side streets present an abnost
deserted appearance. Outside of the coffee-houses, the
Greeks have very few recreations. Theaters, concerts,
athletic sports, dance halls and the like play a very small
part in their lives. A few — about seventy-five in 1908 —
join the Young Men's Christian Association, principally
for the athletic advantages, particularly wrestling, of
which they are very fond.

Of the 15,000 Greeks in the city only about 700 or 800 — _
are women. There are consequently very few families, and
not many children, probably SOO or so. This gives an
unnatural character to the colony, as the great majority

of the men have to live by themselves or il^mall groups,

125

GREEK IMMIGRATION

and either get their own meals or procure them at a res-
taurant. Very few of the Greeks have married American
girls.

The existence of a separate Greek community dates
from the year 1891. It is now incorporated under the
laws of Illinois, and has about 4,000 regular members.
But in a sense practically all the Greeks in the city are
connected with it, for they all belong to one or another of
the twenty smaller societies which are affiliated with the
community. The purposes of these smaller organizations,
of which the richest and most powerful is the fruit and
candy dealers, are benevolent, fraternal and patriotic.
They give lectures about once a month to educate their
members in good citizenship. Every Greek in the city is
at liberty to join the community, but there is a fixed mem-
bership fee of $S. According to the statement of the
secretary of the community, any Greek who commits a
crime is expelled from the society to which he belongs, and
is denied admission to any other.

This community maintains an Orthodox Greek church,
with two priests, both well educated and holding the degree
of Bachelor of Divinity from the University of Athens.
They have a small regular salary, but are largely sup-
ported by special fees, such as a fee of $S5 to $50 for
performing a marriage ceremony. The church build-
ing is located at 34 Johnson Street. It is a brick edifice
with a main room about seventy-five feet by thirty-six feet.
In accordance with the Greek custom there is no provision
for seating the worshipers. On the whole, the decorations
and fittings of the interior present a rather poor and
shabby appearance for a Greek church. There is another
Greek church at 19S7 State Street, but its priest got into

126

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

some difficulty with the religious authorities at home and
it is not now recognized by the Orthodox church. It is
said that the community has recently purchased a good
building site on Polk Street for a church and school, at a
cost of $40,000, most of which has been paid.

One of the first businesses to be developed by Greeks in
Chicago was the bootblacking industry. This is organ-
ized under the padrone system, for a description of which
see page 17S, and has attained considerable proportions
until now the Greeks hold a practical monopoly of this
business in the city. In 1904 there were but three shoe-
shine parlors in the hands of Greeks in the city. Now
there are nearly fifty. But the line in which the Greeks
have made their greatest success is the fruit stores, candy
kitchens and ice cream parlors. The business of the city
along these lines is also almost entirely in their hands. In
1904 there were five fruit stores and £37 candy kitchens,
several having two or more branches. In 1908 there were
about £75 fruit, candy and ice cream dealers, several
having more than one store, besides eleven wholesale fruit
dealers and eight ice cream manufacturers. Flower sell-
ing is sometimes combined with these businesses, and some-
times carried on separately. There were twelve flower
stores in 1904 and the same number in 1908. The third
main line of business which occupies the attention of the
Greeks is the management of hotels and restaurants.
These are of two kinds — those catering to the Greek trade
and hence conducted on the Greek plan, and those pat-
terned after American establishments. Of both kinds
there were in 1904 seventy-six establishments, and in 1908,
25S. As each of these establishments employs four or
five helpers it is evident that nearly half the Greek popula-

127

GREEK IMMIGRATION

tion of the city is engaged in these specialized occupations.
Aside from these fixed establishments there are about 2,000
itinerant fruit peddlers. Some of these are said to make
as much as $10 or $15 a day.

The other principal places of business conducted by
Greeks in 1908 were the following: thirty-six barber-shops,
eleven bakeries, twenty-two coffee-houses, eight dry goods
stores, thirty-one groceries, six cigar and cigarette manu-
factories, nine carpenters, six painters, seven moving pic-
ture establishments, four printers, five tailors, thirteen pool
rooms, six hay and feed stores, four milk dealers, six har-
ness makers and shoemakers, three underwear manufac-
turers, and two laundries. There are four newspapers
published in Greek in Chicago, all weekly. The Greek
Star, Athena, HeUas, and Loxias. There are nine Greek
physicians and surgeons, three lawyers, one druggist,
three brokers' offices, two teachers and three poets !

We have thus far accounted for perhaps two thirds of
the Greek population of Chicago. Of the remaining
"^5,000, probably about 2,000 are employed in Chicago as
day laborers, builders, etc., or in the factories and packing
plants and the other 8,000 are transients, finding employ-
ment from time to time on the railroads of the Middle
West, for which Chicago is the great labor market.

To give an idea of the criminal tendencies of the Greeks
in Chicago, the following table has been compiled from the
police records of the city. Such other foreign nation-
alities as have exceeded the Greeks in total number of
offenses are also included:

188

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

Italians
Irish
Polanden
Rnssiaiis

Italians
Irish
Polanden
Russians

Bohemians

Germans

Italians

Irish

Polanders

Russians

PEWS AX9

nr Chigaoo.

1906.

PekmiM

State
Mlsde-

meanors

VloUtlons

of City
Ordinaaoet

Total

191

149

lfi90

1353

690

593

34^19

5,135

977

378

1,309

1364

995

981

9,596

3339

547

468

3,097

4^049

971

919

1,757

9340

191

110

1,148

1379

1906.

148

185

1,084

1^17

684

815

4^449

5348

306

337

1,490

9,063

960

344

9,801

3,405

695

664

3353

5,149

995

980

9,168

9,743

159

140

1347

1,648

1907.

119

139

737

981

138

999

740

1,109

586

699

3,078

4393

955

379

989

1,616

195

945

1365

9^405

680

907

3369

4^956

340

480

1310

9,080

119

196

1,035

1380

These figures for the other nationalities are of rather
slight value, as in the absence of information in regard to
their number in Chicago in the different years, it is im-
possible to determine the ratio between offenses and total
population, which is the only just basis of comparison.
In the case of the Greeks we can make a fairly accurate

199

GREEK IMMIGRATION

estimate of the number of inhabitants in the city in each
of the three years. In 1904 the Greek population of
Chicago was about 7,500 and in 1908 about 15,000.
Then if the rate of increase was fairly even, the total
number in 1905 would be about 9,000, in 1906 it would be
about 10,750, and in 1907 about 1£,750. Reckoning on the
basis of these figures, in 1905 there was, on the average,
one violation of law for every seven Greeks in the city;
in 1906 two offenses for every fifteen Greeks, and in 1907
one offense for every thirteen Greeks. This shows a
marked improvement in the matter of criminal tendencies,
though the fact that each one of the nationalities given in
the preceding part of the table shows a corresponding
change, less marked but in the same direction, suggests
that perhaps this apparent amelioration may be in part
due to a change in the city administration as well as to an
improvement in the character of the population.

A glance at the table shows that the great majority of
offenses among the Greeks, as in a less degree among the
other nationalities, are violations, of city ordinances,
among which disorderly conduct ranks easily first; this
class of offense, together with the offense of being an
inmate of a gambling house, makes up considerably more
than half of the violations of city ordinances. The more
serious crimes are comparatively rare among the Greeks.
Among the felonies, the principal crimes committed by
Greeks are larceny and larceny by bailee, robbery or
burglary, and assault with intent to commit murder.
Among the state misdemeanors the leading crimes are
assault, assault with deadly weapons, and carrying con-
cealed weapons.

There has been a great deal of suspicion in regard to

180

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

the bootblacking parlors and other Greek establishments
that boys were being employed under the legal age and
worked beyond the legal number of hours. Efforts have
been made to determine the extent of this evil and to
correct any abuses, and a few convictions have been made
( see page 185) but owing to the difficulty of getting testi-
mony not much has been accomplished. I was told at the
office of the factory inspector that they found very few
▼iolators of the factory laws among the Greeks. The
chief probation officer of the Juvenile Court reported that
he had very few cases of delinquent Greek children. There
was one delinquent boy in 1906 and four in 1907.

In February, 1907, a great deal of indignation was
aroused against the Greeks of Chicago on account of the
alleged abuse of young girls in the ice cream parlors and
fruit stores kept by them. The matter was thoroughly
agitated by the newspapers, and some arrests were made.
The most notable case was that of Frank Econamac, who
was convicted and sentenced to fifteen years in the peni-
tentiary. In many cases when an arrest was made for
an offense of this kind, the complainants failed to appear,
the supposition being that they had been bought off
in the meantime. One of the principal accusers was the
restaurant inspector. In the course of his duties he had
to inspect the rear and basement rooms of the candy,
fruit and ice cream establishments, and he stated that in
almost every case he found evidences of the prevalence of
systematic abuse of young girls. (See Chicago DaUy
Journal^ February SO, 1907, and Chicago Chronicle^
February 19 and 86, 1907.) The Greeks claim that much
injustice is done their race in this respect, that persons
of other nationalities are reported as Greeks, and that a

181

GREEK IMMIGRATION

single offense of this kind is made the basis of a whole-
sale condemnation of the race. There is probably a good
deal of truth in this assertion. Yet the secretary of one
of the societies whose business it is to investigate just such
cases as this, told me personally that in his opinion the
Greeks were very culpable in this respect, and that evil
practices of this sort were characteristic of most of the
fruit and ice cream stores kept by them.

When we turn to the matter of dependence we find a
much more pleasing and creditable state of affairs. The
evidence in this department is almost wholly negative.
The Juvenile Court had no cases of dependent Greek
children during the years 1906 and 1907. The main
office of the Chicago Bureau of Charities reported that
they did not remember a single case of Greek applicants.
The West Side District of the Bureau (in the Greek
neighborhood) has had only two or three cases of Greeks,
and the Central District none, except an occasional lodg-
ing house case. The superintendent of the Municipal
Lodging House stated : ^*I will say that we have had very
few Greeks at the Lodging House since it was opened,

about seven years ago Since the depression began

(1907) we have given, to July 1, 11,818 lodgings to as
many different men. I do not believe there were a dozen
Greeks among them." The Orthodox Community, out of
abundant funds, spent in 1907 only $496.15 for relief,
and up to the end of August had spent in 1908 about
$900. Greeks have a native pride which deters them from
seeking public assistance. Those in Chicago are prac-
tically all self-supporting or have some private means of
support, and if for any reason they fall into need, their
friends as a rule look after them.

189

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

Greek men in Chicago are said to enjoy good health,
but the life, or the climate, or the combination of the two
is said to be very hard on the women, causing them to
suffer a general decline.

The 6&SSK Colony of Lowell.

Lowell, Massachusetts, is a decidedly cosmopolitan city.
Only about 50 per cent of its 100,000 population are
English-speaking. Of the balance 25,000 to 80,000 are
French and French Canadians, 8,000 Swedes, several
hundred Norwegians, 8,200 Portuguese, 7,000 to 9,000
Greeks, 2,500 Jews, 200 Armenians, and a great mixture
of Russians, Grermans, Austrians, Belgians, etc. These
have come almost entirely within the last twenty-five
years.*

The number of Greeks in this motley assemblage has
been variously estimated at from 7,000 to 10,000. Prob-
ably the higher number is nearer the correct one. Of
these about 7,000 are men and boys over fourteen years
of age, 2,000 are women and girls over fourteen, and 500
or so are children under fourteen. These have all come
within the last fifteen years. In 1900 there were about
1,800 Greeks in the city, of whom fifty were women.
There were about thirty families, and nearly 850 persons
under twenty-one years of age. The census of 1905 gives
1,694 Greek males and 326 females, a total of 2,020.t

The great majority of the Greeks of Lowell come from
Mani or Laconia. This is the mountainous central and
western peninsula of Greece, rocky and barren in the
extreme. It takes no wizard to say why the population

* George F. Kenngott, Housing ConditionB in LoweU.
fDo.

188

GREEK IMMIGRATION

has emigrated from there, for the figure of the peasant
^^wringing a scant subsistence from the reluctant soil" is
sternly literal here. Only by the most careful terracing
can olive trees be made to grow on the hillsides, and this
is the only district of the Peloponnesus where the vine is
not cultivated. The inhabitants of this region claim to
be the purest blooded descendants of the ancients of any
of the modem Greeks, and pride themselves on their lan-
guage and independent spirit. Unfortunately they still
maintain bloody vendettas. At any time, without the
slightest warning, a little village is likely to be disturbed
by a volley of revolver shots. Everybody rushes indoors,
barricades the houses, and remains within for a day or so
until the excitement is over. Among the other Greeks,
and the foreigners living in the kingdom, the Laconians
have the reputation of being a rather reckless and turbu-
lent lot. Such then is the source of the main body of the
Greek population in Lowell. But there are now repre-
sentatives from almost every part of the Greek world.
Recently, Macedonians have been coming in large num-
bers.

The Greek colony of LoweD is probably the most exclu-
sive and distinctively Greek settlement, of any considerable
size, in the United States. It centers around a stretch of
Market Street about a quarter of a mile long, a district
of old two- and three-story wooden buildings, many of
them apparently contemporaneous with the founding of
the city. In this quarter practically every store is a Greek
one and every dwelling house is inhabited by Greeks. As
in Chicago, if anything still more so here, the conditions
of Greek life are reproduced with the greatest fidelity
possible. There are the same queer little grocery stores,

184

COLONDSS IN UNITED STATES

the same dingy restaurantsy the same close, smoky coffee-
houses, with here, as in Greece, at all hours of the day, a
crowd of big, lazy, able-bodied men, loafing, smoking and
playing cards, while some poor child toils eight or ten
hours a day to support them. The self-sufficient nature
of this colony will be evidenced by the following list of
Greek business houses and business and professional men:
seven restaurants, twenty coffee-houses, twelve barber-
shops, two drug stores, six fruit stores, eight shoe-shine
parlors, one dry goods store, four ticket agencies, seven
bakeries, four candy stores, twenty-two grocery stores, five
coal and wood dealers, eight truckmen, one pool room, one
flavoring extract factory, one wholesale meat dealer, four
physicians, one Orthodox priest, two Protestant ministers,
three milkmen, five farms (owned in partnerships of four
or five men to each farm), two hundred farm laborers, ten
real estate owners, one real estate broker, two bankers,
three teachers. The large number of coffee-houses is an
impressive witness of the transplantation of Greek customs
to this country.

The living conditions among the Greeks of Lowell have
been so admirably described by Mr. Kenngott in the article
already referred to that I can do no better than to quote
a number of paragraphs verbatim from that work. The
author speaks of the old paternal system of caring for the
employees which used to be in vogue among the great cor-
porations, but which has now been largely discarded with
the result that rents and prices have gone up, causing
several families to crowd into houses and apartments occu-
pied, a few years ago, by one family. A few of the cor-
porations still own boarding houses which are kept in good
sanitary condition and rented to their employees at low

185

GREEK IMMIGRATION

rates. But the tenements owned by real estate agents are
often kept In inferior condition, while the rents are two or
three times as high. The author then goes on to say :

'^The worst housing conditions are among the Greeks

and Syrians The Greeks live largely in the center of

the city in very old wooden buildings. The largest tene-
ment block in the Greek colony is at the comer of Market
and Jefferson Streets. It contains forty rooms with
seventy-nine inhabitants. There are nine tenements in the
block. This building is new with modem accommoda-
tions, such as bath-rooms, porcelain bathtubs, set bowls
and tubs; and two tenements have furnace heat. There
are back verandas for drying clothes. Some of the kitchens
have no windows. There is another large block at the
comer of Market and Suffolk Streets, towards Merrimack
Street. On the street floor there are several stores with a
pharmacy at the comer. This block consists of sixty-six
rooms with eighty-eight inhabitants in the block. There
are sixteen rooms having no windows. In the back yard
there are ropes running from wall to wall for the drying of
clothes. Each tenement has running water for drinking
purposes, for washing and for water-closet.

^^There are many other blocks, probably old as the city
itself, which are in very miserable condition. Only by a
personal visit can one understand the housing conditions of
some of the Greeks and Syrians.

^^In the old wooden buildings they are crowded in close
and narrow quarters, with three or more in a room, little
or no ventilation, rooms often dark without windows, no
facilities for bathings u^ opportunity for drjring clothes
except in the crowded kitchen and with toilet facilities
which are extremely bad.

186

COLONDSS IN UNITED STATES

^'Many of the Greeks live almost like an army on the
march, having a common commissariat and living in pov-
erty, filth and disease. This is due, in large part, to the
fact that in this population of nearly 9,000, 6,500 are men
and boys over fourteen years of age. A physician was
called recently to attend a Greek woman who was sick
(and) found her lying on a cot, with four men stretched
out asleep on the floor. I have frequently seen five and six
crowded in one room where there was sickness, and scores
coming in to give their condolence.* Worse conditions
can hardly be imagined than in certain old wooden tene-
ment houses in the Greek district. ^Bathtubs and bath-
rooms are unknown to the Greeks, in this section.' (Rev.
Panos Ginieris.) There are no public baths and no bath-
houses along the Merrimack River in the city."

No careful inspections of tenement buildings are made in
Lowell. **Some of the old buildings in this section should
be condemned, or radical changes made at once."

*'As one goes about the city as physician or clergyman,
he finds that the poorer and more ignorant the people are,

the more they crowd together in the center of the city

Ordinarily, there are more abuses of this kind when people
first come to a place and there are few men having their
wives with them. Under these conditions their natural
instinct for a home and all it implies is put aside. With
this lack of home restraint and the influence of the women,
there follow the overcrowding of the men, a tendency to
slovenliness in the care of the apartments and many social
vices. These people, who have been brought up in foreign
countries, have little knowledge of how to live in a sanitary

* A national custom. A sick room is usually the scene of a con-
tinuous procession of relatives and friends.

187

GREEK IMMIGRATION

way. This may be due partly to the customs of their own
countries, partly to thriftlessness, and again to the fact
that in Lowell there are many who have come from the
farming districts, many spending the greater part of their
lives in the open air with their herds.

^^The Greeks have been and still are to some extent in-
clined to overcrowd, and many of them are inclined to be
unsanitary, more particularly in using their hallways and
cellars for urinals. Now that they are marrying and
establishing homes, their houses are being kept in better
condition, but still do not have as large tenements as they

should for the number of people that occupy them

Some of the Greeks who have been here longest have estab-
lished homes in the suburbs, have invested in real estate,
and have neat and attractive homes. The Greeks promise
to make a helpful addition to the city's population."

There are said to be six Greeks in Lowell who have
American wives, fourteen with French wives and four with
Polish wives. While there is an unusually large propor-
tion of females among the Greeks of Lowell, they are not by
any means all wives. Many of them are factory hands,
and many are young girls.

Lowell is preeminently a manufacturing city, and the
great majority of the foreign peoples who contribute to
its population are employed in the various mills and fac-
tories. To this rule the Greeks are no exception. In no
other city in the country are there so many Greeks em-
ployed in factory occupations as here. Following is a
statement of the total number of employees in some of the
principal manufacturing establishments with the number
of Greeks among them, based partly on Mr. Kenngott's
figures and partly on personal inquiries.

188

Total
Em-
ployee!

Greek Bmployee! .
Male* Female Total

8,600

495

500

4,000

400

450

3,000

500

568

9,339

968

8,056

118

9,050

350

900

505

188

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

Factory
TrentoD-Suffolk Mills, cotton goods
Lawrence Mills, knit goods
Merrimack Mfg. Co., cotton goods
Massacbnsetts Cotton Mills
Hamilton Mfg. Co.
Bigelow Carpet Co.
Spaiilding & Swett Co., slippers
Federal Shoe Co .
Newport Shoe Co. .

The average weekly wage in these mills is about $9.
Some of the unskilled workers earn only $6 or $7 per
week, while some of the skilled workers earn as high as
$15. The Greeks are mainly employed in unskilled
labor, in the dye-house, or in tending machines, such as
the spinning, weaving and carding machines. They do not
display any particular mechanical ability, and very few of
them have as yet advanced to positions of responsibility,
such as overseers or foremen. As workers, they rank
about on a level with the other nationalities among which
they work. They hold to their positions with a fair degree
of steadiness, though the offer of a slight increase of wages
elsewhere is very likely to cause them to move. When they
leave a position it is usually of their own volition ; they are :^ y

seldom discharged. They are amenable to discipline and
practically never cause any trouble through drunkenness.

The two great complaints which mill agents make
against the Greeks are such as we might expect from our
knowledge of two of their principal characteristics — fac-
tiousness, and fondness for exploiting each other. Mill
agents testify that their Greek employees are very apt to
form into small groups or cliques, and while there is seldom

* Some of these figures, especially in regard to sex, are estimates.

189

GREEK IMMIGRATION

any friction between the Greeks and workers of other races,
these little cliques are constantly getting into altercations
with each other, which often result in violence and blood-
shed. It is impossible for the employers to get at the true
cause of the difference and sometimes the whole lot has to
be discharged. Greeks who have just come to the city
usually secure employment through the agency of some of
their friends who have been here longer. This is the only
feasible way of getting the newcomer and the employer
together, but it often leads to abuses. Some Greek who has
been in this country for a short time, and has learned a few
words of English, gets hold of a green immigrant and tells
him that if he will pay him $5 or $10 (the amount varying
with the gullibility of the victim) he will secure him a job
in the mill where he himself is employed. The transaction
takes place, and the next day the older resident takes the
newcomer around to the mill and tells the foreman that here
is a man who wants a job, and if the mill is needing workers
he is taken on. The mill agents do all in their power to
discourage this practice, and if any Greek is discovered
engaging in it, he and his whole crowd are dismissed. The
trouble is that when a man has secured a position in this
way he thinks that because he has paid for it, he owns it,
and if he is discharged for inefficiency or for any other
reason he thinks that an injustice has been done him. One
mill agent told me that the greatest benefit that could be
conferred on a crowd of incoming Greeks would be to im-
press them thoroughly with the idea that they need not
pay anybody a cent for a job.

The factious spirit of the Greeks is especially in evidence
in Lowell. It crops out on every hand, and Greeks are
constantly coming into court with dissensions, which defy

140

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

the judges and lawyers to get at the real root of the diffi-
culty, or arrive at a just solution. As usual, this spirit
has manifested itself particularly in regard to the affairs of
the church. The Orthodox Community was organized
about 1898. A few years ago it was decided to erect a
fine new church building. The president of the community
at that time was a well-educated Greek of fine manners who
had attained quite a high position in Lowell society. When
it came to the choice of a building site there was a division.
One party had a lot in view which had much to reconunend
it, but the president advocated another site, hmited in
extent and of poor outlook, because — so said the other
faction — there was more graft in it for him. Eventually
the president and his party prevailed, and building was
commenced in that location. But the dissatisfaction in-
creased and presently the other party found itself in power.
It was too late to change the building site, but the president
was deposed and another man elected in his place. The old
president, however, refused to give up the books and the
money, and the matter had to be taken into court before
the new administration could get affairs intojts own hands.
About the same time the old president fell under suspicion
in regard to his complicity in contract labor enterprises
and other evil practices, and rapidly lost his prestige.
The bitter feeling caused by this affair permeated the whole
Greek society of Lowell, and has by no means subsided up
to the present time. This story has been introduced at
such length because it illustrates so forcibly the lack of
harmony which is so typical of Greeks in the United
States, as well as in the old country.

The church building itself progressed finely and stands
completed today — undoubtedly the finest edifice belonging

141

GREEK IMMIGRATION

to the Greek Orthodox church in this country. Its cost
was about $769000. It is about one hundred and ten feet
by fifty-one feet on the exterior, built in the modified
Byzantine style which is characteristic of buildings of this
order. The material is a fine cream colored brick. There
are two small domes in front and one large one over the
center, all gilded at a cost of $S,000. The roof is of slate.
The interior is beautifully fitted up in the orthodox style.
The windows are of stained glass and the frescoes are of
really remarkable excellence. The chandelier, candelabra
and carved mahogany bishop's chair are all of the finest
workmanship. The church is lighted with electricity and
heated by steam. There is a gallery for the women. In
the basement is a nicely finished room, fitted up with
seventy-two desks as a school. This is maintained at the
expense of the church, with the main purpose of cherishing
the national feeling for Greece in the hearts of the rising'
generation. There are two teachers, a Greek man and an
American lady, and about sixty-five pupils, both boys and
girls.

The following table compiled from the police reports
shows the criminal record of the Greeks of Lowell for the
five years 1904-1908, inclusive. For purposes of compari-
son the figures for all the other nationalities given in the
tables are also included.

Rkcoko

AlBERB, WITH

NATiyinKS, LOWKLL.

Years

Ending May SO.

Nativity

1904

1905

190«

1907

1908

United SUtes .

•

IJSU

9,905

9,196

9,101

9,098

Ireland

•

1,000

1,039

1,068

1,050

England

•

317

401

376

999

957

Scotland

•

117

193

142

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

British ProTincM

688

719

638

796

737

Greece (Greeks)

119

158

114

138

166

Russia

106

184

141

168

969

Torkiflli Empire

Germany

Portugal

Austria
Sweden

6
18

France

Norway

Italy

Miscellaneous

140

Total

t • I

3,934

4,916

4,684

4,797

4,839

As the table shows, the number of arrests among the
Greeks has remained fairly constant for the five years. As
the total number of Greeks in the city has been increasing
somewhat, this indicates a degree of improvement in their
criminal record. Taking the figures given on page ISS as
a basis of comparison, we find that in 1908 there was one
arrest among the Greeks for every fifty-eight of the total
Greek population, among the Portuguese one out of every
188, of the Swedes one out of 1,000, and if we assume that
90 per cent of the offenses credited to the British Provinces
were committed by French Canadians, their proportion
would be about one arrest to forty-two total population.
Of the English-speaking population, native and foreign,
the proportion is about one arrest to fourteen total popu-
lation, a result to which the Irish contribute very largely.
The police records do not give any statement as to the
classes of offenses for which the different nationalities were
arrested, but I was informed by the officials that arrests
among the Greeks are almost wholly for minor offenses such
as disorderly conduct, quarreling, gambling and breach of
the Sunday observance regulations.

148

GREEK IMMIGRATION

Applications for relief from public sources are few
among the Greeks in Lowell. The principal philanthropic
organization in the dty is the Ministry-at-Large. Out of
a total of 2,867 cases assisted by this organization in lOOT*
sixty-five were Greeks. The reason given for this small
number is that the Greeks have not yet *^got on to" this
source of assistance. It is said that if they knew the ropes,
they would come f£Lst enough. One Greek of considerable
prominence in the city is said to have tried to increase his
prestige among his people by acting as an intermediary
between the society and the needy individual. But as he
always insisted on administering the relief himself in per-
son, the society became suspicious and put a check on his
appeals.

Taking them altogether, the Greeks in Lowell hold an
unenviable reputation in the mind of the average American
citizen of the place. On the whole they are considered a
quarrelsome, treacherous, filthy, low-living lot. Yet this
opinion does injustice to a large proportion, possibly a
majority of them. There are many Greeks in the city
who are just as fine a type of citizen as one could hope to
find. In this case, as in so many others, a dozen noisy,
turbulent, disreputable individuals can attract more atten-
tion, and make more of an impression on the outsider's
mind, than a couple of hundred who go quietly about their
business, say little, and stay where they belong.

In general, however, conditions are probably as bad
among the Greeks of Lowell as in any other settlement of
that people in the country. This is due, partly, to the fact
that the majority of them come originally from a turbu-
lent stock, partly to the fact that they are engaged so
largely in factory occupations instead of in independent

144

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

business, partly to the fact that they are living in tenement
conditions in a small city, without proper tenement inspec-
tion or control. The miserable living and working condi^
tions in which they live cause a great deal of disease among
them. Tuberculosis is very prevalent, caused by the
wretched living conditions and breathing the dust of the
factories. The following case is typical of hundreds. A
little girl, lying sick with tuberculosis in the hospital, was
visited by the wife of one of the Protestant pastors, who
asked her how she contracted the disease. The child
replied that at the age of twelve she entered one of the
mills, at the instigation of her father. In order to gain
admittance she made a false oath in regard to her age.
The hard work, close confinement, and bad air were too
much for her, and she contracted the dread disease.
Eventually she succumbed to it. In 1906 this disease be-
came so prevalent that the Board of Health caused a notice
to be printed and circulated, especially in the Greek sec-
tion of the city, stating the causes of tuberculosis, and the
means of its prevention. Certain regulations in regard to
the ventilation of bedrooms and the number of beds in each,
and the provision and use of spittoons, were prescribed
and it was stated that any violations of them would be
prosecuted. But no prosecutions occurred and little else
was done about the matter.*

The ignorance of the Greeks in this colony is another
cause of many evils and abuses. Particularly is this true
of ignorance of the English language, which many of them
find it almost impossible to learn under the circumstances
in which they are placed. A Greek who has managed to
get some acquaintance with the language and customs of

* Kenngott.

145

GREEK IMMIGRATION

this country has a great advantage over his feUow country-
men and most of them are not slow to make the most of it.
One way in which this is done is for the proprietor of a
grocery store or meat market to go to a group of new-
comers who have just established themselves in the com-
munity, particularly if they are Macedonians, and tell
them that they are disobeying some of the laws of the city
and that if they do not purchase their provisions of the
storekeeper in question he will put the police on their trail.
The poor newcomers know of nothing else to do but to
comply. The provisions sold by such means as this are
said to be vile in the extreme. Similar abuses in the
matter of securing employment have already been noted.
To correct these evils the city, through its Board of
Education, is making every effort to further education
among the foreign element, particularly by means of the
system of evening schools. Of these there are sixteen,
two of which are wholly Greek, and one other mainly so.
Attendance at these schools is compulsory for persons of
both sexes under twenty-one years of age who cannot read
and write English. These schools are held four evenings
a week for nineteen weeks. In 1906-07 in the three schools
which were mainly Greek there was a total average attend-
ance of 4S9 and a total enrollment of 987. In 1907-08
in two Greek schools there was a total average attendance
of 670. To secure attendance at these schools a very
wise device has been adopted. Each pupil is given a card
which is signed week by week with a record of his school
attendance. Unless this card shows a correct record for
the week previous, the holder cannot secure employment
in any of the mills. Almost all of the employers give their
hearty support to this scheme, and the loss of this card

146

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

is a much dreaded misfortune. The withdrawal of this
card from any pupil is the severest punishment in vogue
in the night schools, and the mere threat of such an action
is usually sufficient to secure obedience. If a child is under
fourteen years of age he is supposed to attend the day
schools.* But there is great difficulty in applying this
rule, for the Greeks are inveterate liars when it comes to
matters of age — or anything else that will interfere with
their doing what they want to. (For a fuller discussion
of the problem of age, see under the padrone system, page
172.)

Another very commendable effort to improve the con-
ditions of the Greeks in Lowell takes the form of a book
of Municipal Regulations, published in Greek and English
and distributed freely, under the auspices of the Middle-
sex Women's Club of the city. This Iktle booklet contains
much valuable advice in regard to decent and sanitary
living, and obedience to law.

Ths Gbeek CoiiONY OF New Yobk.

.•

The New Yo^k <Mony is less distinctive and centralized
t^n either of the settlements hitherto described. The
characteristic occupations of the Greeks here resemble
those of Chicago rather than those of Lowell, and as these
business houses are scattered over long distances, the ten-
dency is for the Greeks to gather in several small settle-
ments rather than for all to collect in one large one. On
account of the immense size of the metropolis, also, the
Greeks have not as yet impressed themselves so distinctly
on the industrial organization, nor been able to gain the

* If a child cannot read and write simple English he must attend
the day school until he is sixteen.

147

GREEK IMMIGRATION

same degree of control of their typical businesses, as in
the smaller places. At the present time there are in
Greater New York about 20,000 Greeks, of whom 12,000
to 14,000 live in Manhattan and the Bronx. They are
almost entirely males. From 40 to 60 per cent are said
to be married, but very few have their wives with them.
The Greek-American Guide (1909, page 164) says, "The
unmixed Greek families in- New York number about 150 to
170, and the mixed families are few." As a result the men
have to live in the manner which we have found to be the
characteristic one in Chicago and Lowell. A group of
men — four or five, or even a dozen — club together and rent
One or more rooms which are used as their sleeping and
living apartments. The meals are either prepared by the
men in their rooms, or secured at restaurants outside^^
True home life is practically non-existent among them. \I1>
There are three main centers of Greek life in Man-^
hattan. One of them centers around Madison Street,
between Catherine and Pearl Streets, running for short
distances up Roosevelt Street, Oliver Street and other side
streets ; the second has its center on Sixth Avenue, about
Thirtieth Street, and extends for some distance both
ways on Sixth Avenue, and east and west into the side
streets ; the third is on the opposite side of the city around
the intersection of Thirtieth Street with Second and Third
Avenues. Of these settlements the first is the oldest and
the most typically Greek. On the whole the residents are
of the less prosperous class, small dealers, push-cart men,
etc. It is the starting place of the newcomers, so that
while the settlement is the oldest, the settlers themselves
are probably more recent than in other sections. As in
Chicago, the Greeks have invaded an Italian settlement

148

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

and are slowly displacmg the earlier inhabitants. As yet»
howeTer, the population of this section is far from being
whoUy Greek. The tenement house records for this region
show a most heterogeneous collection of dweUers, Irish,
American, Russian, Italian, Chinese and others. The
business houses, however, are almost entirely Greek, coffee-
houses, groceries, restaurants, barber-shops, importers'
establishments, etc. The coffee-houses are as exact a
reproduction of those in Greece — ^with the exception of
the outdoor features — as one could hope to find. There
are the same small tables, the same familiar lithographs
of the "Death of Patroclus,*' "The Vengeance of Achilles,'*
**Byron Taking the Oath of Allegiance," and "King
Greorge of Greece." There is the same vile atmosphere
and the same crowd of big, able-bodied loafers with appar-
ently nothing to do all day but smoke, drink, play cards
and talk. ' And as in Greece, the proprietors and waiters
are often in their shirt sleeves and coUarless, with a decid-
edly unkempt appearance in general. The restaurants
in this settlement are also distinctively Greek in appear-
ance and in the character of the food. The tenement
houses in this district are old and many of them very un-
desirable. Many have several dark rooms on each floor.
The average number of water-closets is one to two or three
families, but some have no inside closets whatever.

The Sixth Avenue settlement is much more American-
ized. In fact the casual passer-by would hardly notice
any evidences that he was in the midst of a Greek district.
The residents of this section are on the whole more pro-
gressive and engaged in larger and more important busi-
nesses. The smaUer colony on the opposite side of the
city around Second Street and Third Avenue is almost

149

GREEK IMMIGRATION

whoUy a residence section, and except for one or two
Greek stores there is nothing to show that it is settled by
this race.

The Greek- American Guide gives the following list of
business firms and business and professional men: seven
newspapers and periodicals, ten steamship agents, three
real estate agents, five importing and exporting mer-
chants, six physicians and surgeons, thirty-seven Greek
produce importers and groceries, seventy confectioners,
twenty-six tobacco importers and cigarette manufacturers,
one hundred and thirteen florists, forty-six fur dealers and
furriers, eleven wholesale fruit dealers, sixty-two retail
fruit dealers, fifty-one bootblack parlors, one hotel and
restaurant, sixty-seven restaurants and lunch rooms, forty
Greek restaurants and coflFee-houses, thirty-two Greek
coffee-houses, four saloons, two photographers, three
teachers, two printers, five booksellers, twenty-four bar-
bers, seventeen tailors, four shoemakers, five bakers, four
Greek candy makers, six carpteters, two priests, nine
editors, nine miscellaneous. In Brooklyn there are eight-
een confectioners, thirty-three restaurants, seven fruit
dealers, and ten florists. In Coney Island, thirty-one
hotels, restaurants, etc. This list includes only separate
establishments. In regard to the number of people
actually engaged in the different trades, from information
furnished me by two of the leading Greeks in the city, the

Ho wing estimate has been made: confectioners, 1,250;
florists, 650; restaurants (including waiters, dishwashers,
etc.), S,500; fruit dealers and peddlers, 2,000; bootblacks,
500. These figures may hettaken as fairly accurate for
the city proper. The balance of the Greek population are
engaged in miscellaneous trades and independent busi-

150

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

nesses. There are few Greek factory workers in New
York, outside of a small number employed in the cigarette
factories.

One of the first trades to be taken up by the Greeks —
probably the very first — ^in New York was the fiorist busi--
ness. This was started in a small way as a street trade.
As different men prospered they would rent little stores
where they would keep their stock, and hire a number of
boys to do the selling on the streets. This sort of trade is
well suited to the genius of the Greeks, and they have pros-
pered at it. The confectionery, restaurant and fruit busi-
ness followed. In the bootblacking trade the Greeks are
just beginning to get a foothold. This business is still
practically controlled by the Italians in New York. In
all of these occupations the Greeks have on the whole pros-
pered. * Common peddlers are said to make about $600
to $1,000 per year; waiters from $500 to $1,600; boys in
bootblack shops from $600 to $800, including their living
expenses.* The profits of men in independent business of
course vary, just as in the case of any other business men.
There are a few extremely wealthy Greek firms in the city,
mostly importers. One of the most profitable Greek enter-
prises in the city is the Greek Hotel on Forty-second
Street, opposite the Grand Central Depot.

As in Chicago, so in New York, the Greeks are a negligi-
ble factor in the work of the charitable organizations of
the city. The ofllcials of the Charity Organization So-
ciety say that they have extremely few cases of Greeks.
The secretary of the Bureau for the Handicapped could
remember only one Greek case in many years. The State

'lliese figures, though furnished hj an influential Greelc, are
probably somewhat exaggerated.

161

GREEK IMMIGRATION

Board of Charities from January 1, 1906, to August 15,
1907» had six cases of Greeks ; five were removed from the
Metropolitan Hospital and sent to Greece, and one from
the City Hospital. The secretary of the Bowery Branch
of the Y. M. C. A. says that he has very few applications
from men of this nationality. Wherever inquiries are
made the same answer is returned. Neither do the Greeks
enter into the life of the social settlements. The University
Settlement and the Jacob A. Riis Settlement both reported
that they had no Greeks. The College Settlement has
made an effort to get hold of the Greeks, but without suc-
cess. Six years ago they followed the example of Hull
House and gave a presentation of the J* A j ax" with Greek
actors. While the performance itself was a grand success,
the managers had a great deal of trouble in getting the
**high class" and "low class" Greeks to work together in
harmony, and no permanent results were secured in the
way of enlisting the interest of the Greeks in the work of
the settlement.

Outside of the coffee-houses the Greeks have few amuse-
ments. There are no athletic clubs, dance halls or Greek
theaters, though occasionally a play is presented in Greek
in one of the American theaters. The social life of the
people centers almost entirely around the coffee-houses and
restaurants, though there is a Greek political club, with
Re]^ublican affiliations, on Sixth Avenue. The best Greek
restaurants, of a distinctively foreign type, are ogk the *
central streets of the Sixth Avenue settlement. At these
places the cooking is excellent and the prices very moder-^^-
ate. A first-rate meal, consisting of soup, roast .lamb,
potatoes, salad, Greek pudding and bread may be secured
for thirty-five or forty cents. These restaurants are pat-

152

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

ronized by the more well-to-do Greeks. The lower class
establishments on Madison Street have even more reason-
able rates. The Greek takes plenty of time for his meals
and may spend a couple of hours or more altogether, smok-
ing, drinking his black coffee and chatting with his friends.
The newspaper, too, plays a large part in this entertain-
ment, and newsboys are continually entering and calling
out their different journals.

There are four newspapers published in New York, the
Atlantis and the PanheUemCy daily; the Simaia^ semi-
weekly; and the Paraxenos (humorous), bi-weekly. Be-
sides these there are two monthly magazines, the Commer-
cial Review, and the Thermopyla. Of these the most
important is the Atlantis, which is considered the authori-
tative organ of the Greek- American people. This paper
was established in 1894, and has now a circulation of about
15,000 copies. It has a busy office on West Thirty-first
Street, with an editorial staff of five, and about ten em-
ployees. One important department is that of book sell-
ing. Unfortunately the editor does not command the uni-
versal respect that his influential position ought to carry
with it. Rightly or wrongly, there are many scandals
attached to his past life, and many of his influential fellow
countrymen are y^j bitter against him.
^The Pantj^gnic, a so-called ^independent*' daily, was
established in March, 1908. The general relation between
it and the Atlantis is one of bitter rivalry. In this con-
nection a rather racy incident developed in the fall of 1908,
which so well illustrates the inborn spitefulness of the
Greeks, their fondness for newspaper vituperation, and
some other phases of their character that it seems to merit
a small space here. When the new daily was founded it

168

GREEK IMMIGRATION

secured as one of its principal officials a certain Mr. Ekon-
omidy, who had been employed for three or four years on
the staff of the Atlantic, and left it, so the PanheUenic
claimed, bearing a letter of recommendation from one of
the editors of the older paper. In November, 1908, the
PanheUenic announced that this gentleman had started on
a tour of the Greek colonies of the United States, in the
interests of his paper. In regard to this announcement,
the Atlantis published a scurrilous paragraph under the
headline, "The Kitchen Bill op the Cooks," which
stated that, "In the independent free communal daily bill
of fare of the cooks of Forty-second Street, the one written
by the Hebrew editor, it was stated that" the director of
its office had started on a tour of the interior to secure sub-
scribers. The Greeks of the country were asked to take
note that he had been dismissed from the office of the
Atlantis for stealing and systematic theft of books and
petty cash, and thereby to give "a good lesson to the cooks
and the Hebrews, that they were not so easily duped."
The purpose of this screed, according to the opposite
party, was to discredit Mr. Ekonomidy, his paper and his
mission.

A few days later the editor of the Atlantis went to the
Hotel Imperial, as was his custom, for lunch. While he
was seated in the dining room a page entered, and told him
that some one wished to see him in the lobby. He went to
the place designated and found there the wife of Mr. Ekon-
omidy. Before the editor could grasp the situation, the
woman drew from under her long coat a horsewhip and
lashed him across the face with all her strength. She was
finally disarmed by the hotel attendants, but only after
she had administered similar punishment to one or two of

154

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

them. This event naturally called for comment from both
the papers. The PanheUeniCy after deprecating vengeance
in general, went on to give the extenuating circumstances
of this case, and concluded with the following burst of ora-
tory:

^*Mr. Ekonomidy is at the present moment seven hundred
miles away from New York. But Mrs. Ekonomidy is in
New York, and in her veins runs Hellenic and even Spartan
blood. And Mrs. Ekonomidy has taken vengeance for
the honor of her husband, for the honor of the father of
her child, thrashing publicly yesterday the two slanderers."
The Atlantis adopted a rather apologetic tone for taking
any notice of so vulgar a transaction.*

The Orthodox Community of New York dates from the
year 1891. It was incorporated under the state laws in
1904. Its organization included a president, vice-presi-
dent, secretary and treasurer, and seven trustees, elected
by ballot every two years and holding regular meetings
the last Thursday of each month. The dues are voluntary
and from 600 to 600 members are said to pay $5 per year
or over. Some of the wealthy Greeks pay much more.
The membership is supposed to include every Greek in the
city. But here, as in Chicago and Lowell, the spirit of
dissension has invaded the realm of religion. In the year
1908 the self-styled "progressive element" in the church
began to feel a spirit of dissatisfaction with the way things
were going. They felt that the affairs of the church were
controUed by a group of undesirable and conservative
Greeks, and that they themselves could get no part in the

*See the N&v York Herald, December 9, 1908, the AtlantU^ Novem-
ber 97, 1906, the PanhelUmc, December 9, 1906, the Atlantii, Decem-
ber 9, 1908, etc.

196

GREEK IMMIGRATION

management of the organization. Consequently they
withdrew from the congregation and rented a new church
of their own, and secured their own priest. At the present
time the Greek population of the city is divided into two
factions, between which there seems to be a good deal of
hard feeling. Each claims to have the greater number of
adherents. There are no doctrinal differences between the
two, but the division appears to have been on personal
grounds. It is very hard for an outsider to get at the
true inwardness of affairs of this kind among the Greeks.

The older church, the "Holy Trinity," has its edifice at
161^ East Seventy-second Street. This building was
purchased by the Community at a cost of $65,000,
of which $20,000 has been paid in four years. The sum
of $24,000 additional has been expended on the furnish-
ings of the interior, the marble for which was brought
from Greece. The building rented by the other organi-
zation is at S29-SS5 West Thirtieth Street, and is desig-
nated the "Annunciation." It is the intention of the
church to purchase this building soon.

The fondness of the Greeks for organizations is mani-
fested in the fact that aside from the Orthodox Community
there are about thirty smedler associations in the city. In
reply to a query as to the purpose of these societies, my
informant, one of the foremost Greeks in the country and
an extremely keen, affable and intelligent man, replied:
"One of them does a great deal of valuable work along
benevolent lines. As for the rest, I can't for the life of
me say what their purpose is. I'll tell you ! Each society
has a president, a vice-president, a secretary, and a treas-
urer — and ihafg something.**

The criminal record of the Greeks in New York is not

156

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

very creditable. The report of the City Magistrates
Courts, First Division (Boroughs of Manhattan and the
Bronx) for 1907 gives the following list of the different
nationalities of persons held for trial or summarily tried
and convicted in these courts for that year:

United SUtes

30,961

Ireland

8»061

Germany

4,919

Rngland

1,044

Scotland

47S

France

869

Italy

8,943

Russia

9,954

Greece

3,039

Other coontries .

6,790

Total

> 1

71,953

Since there were 10,000 to 1S,000 Greeks in the district
covered by this report in the year in question, there was, on
the average, a trifle over one arrest for every four of the^
total population. It is impossible to make any exact com-
parison of the Greeks with other nationalities from the
above table, in the absence of exact data as to the total
population of these other races in 1907, in this district.
We may gain a sort of general idea, however, in regard to
those born in Russia and in Italy. The Russians are of
course almost wholly Russian Jews. It is a conservative
estimate to place the niunber of these people in Manhattan
and the Bronx in the year in question at 500,000. Their
average, then, would be in the neighborhood of one arrest
for fifty-four of the total population. The Italian popula-
tion of New York City in 1900 was 145,493. Considering
the enormous immigration of people of this race during the
succeeding seven years it is a perfectly safe assumption

157

GREEK IMMIGRATION

that in 1907 there were at least twice as many — say
8OO9OOO — ^in the two boroughs in question. On this basis
their average of arrests would be one for every thirty-six.
In comparison with these two nationalities, to whom we
have at least done no injustice, the record of the Greeks is
very discreditable. On the other hand it must be noted that
the offenses of the Greeks are almost wholly of a minor
nature. Out of the total of S,0S9 given above, S,55S1
cases were violations of the Corporation Ordinances, 5S86
were for disorderly conduct, 86 for violations of the sani-
tary law and S5 for Sabbath breaking, leaving only 122
for all other offenses. Of the 8,249 offenses committed
by Italians, 413 were assault (felony and misdemeanor),
1,752 disorderly conduct, 99 homicides, 250 larceny
(felony and misdemeanor), 75 Sabbath breaking, S,060
violations of Corporation Ordinances, 660 violations of
the sanitary law. A total of 9,254 cases of Russians
includes 227 assaults, 2,496 disorderly conduct, 29 homi-
cides, S92 felonies, 287 Sabbath breaking, 8,144 violations
of the Corporation Ordinances, and 1,367 violations of
the sanitary law. There was not a single case of homi-
cide among the Greeks. But even among the Greeks
there seems to have been considerable improvement in the
matter of criminality. ]\Ir. P. F. Hall cal|s attention to
the fact that though in 1900 there were only 1,809 Greeks
in New York, in 1902 there were 1,678 persons of this
nationality held in the courts we have been considering.*
In the Children's Court of the First Division in 1907 there
were but three cases of Greeks out of a total of 11,446.

There are not many Greek children in the public schools
of New York, as would be expected from the small number

* P. F. Hall, Immigration, p. 153.

158

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

of Greek families. The principal of the Boys' Depart-
ment of Public School No. 1, located on Henry Street
on the edge of the Madison Street Greek settlement, told
me that he had about seventy-five Greek boys in the school.
Practically all were bom abroad. Their average age is
about thirteen years and few of them remain in the school
more than two years. Their parents are anxious to have
them go to work as soon as possible. Voluntary truancy
on the part of the boys is exceptional, in which they differ
from the Italian boys. There are occasional brilliant in-
dividuals among them, but as a rule they do not compare
very favorably with other foreign boys. There are very
few Greek girls in this school, one defective being the only
one enroUed in December, 1908.

The Gbeek Co]x>ny of Lincoln.

The small but very typical Greek colony in Lincoln,
Nebraska, may be taken as representative of a large
number of similar settlements located in the smaUer cities
and^ovns all over the United States. Lincoln is a flour-
ishing western city with a population in 1900 of 40,169.
It is the capital of the state and a great educational
center. Here are located about thirty-five Greeks. All
but four or five are males and only about a dozen are
adults, the remainder being boys employed in the shoe-
shining parlors and in the candy store. This candy store
is located on the comer of Fourteenth and O Streets, out-
side of the present center of business, but in a district
toward which trade is rapidly moving and which many
shrewd business men predict will be the center of business
in a few years. It is run in partnership by two Greeks,
one of whom comes from Sparta and has been in this

159

GREEK IMMIGRATION

country eighteen years. He usually acted as the host on
my several visits to the store. It was rather difficult to
find the other partner in, as he was an ardent patron of
baseball, and was frequently in attendance at the games,
in company with the proprietor of the shoe-shining par-
lors. Both of the proprietors of the candy store are very
cordial, pleasing in appearance and apparently good
business men. The store is of good size and very clean
and attractive. There is a fine fountain for the service
of ice cream, soda water, etc., show cases with candy, and
tables and chairs in the rear of the room. Back of the
main room is a small office, into which my host conducted
me. We found there two or three Greek women, one with
a baby, and one or two Greek men, to whom I was intro-
duced. In the basement are located the freezers and
machines for the preparation of the ice cream. The room
is cement floored and everything is clean and attractive.
In every way I was treated with a hospitality which
marked me as a guest rather than as a patron or inves-
tigator.

The proprietor of the Greek shoe-shining parlors prac-
tically controls this business in the city. He is a pleasant
man to converse with, young, and handsome in a typically
Greek way. He is well spoken of by the secretary of the
Y. M. C. A. He owns and operates four shoe-shining
establishments, three on O Street, the principal business
street of the city, and the other one on one of the side
streets just off O. He seems proud of his business and
is glad to talk about it. He says that he employs about
twenty boys. Their pay ranges from $16 to $26 per
month and aXL expenses except their own shoes and clothes.
One boy who has been with him three years receives $400

1(K)

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

per year. In each shop one of the boys who has been with
him longest is pTtn general oversight. The boys are
almost without exception industrious and willing, and
there is seldom any show of reluctance or of holding off
for some other boy to do the work. The shops differ in
their appointments, the best one being quite palatial, with
seyenteen leather-covered chairs of dark hardwood, electric
fans, hat cleaners, etc.

The proprietor of these shops was married in the spring
of 1908 to a Greek girl whom he had known in the old
country. She came to this country three years previously
and lived with her brothers in Chicago. The two of them
now have a large flat on Twelfth and N Streets, where
they live with the boys, "all like one big family.'* The
"boss" says he very seldom sends directly for any boy to
come over. One of his employees perhaps has a brother
or cousin in the old country and he writes to him that if
he will come over he can probably find work here. So he
c(Nnes, and the *%oss" gives him a job. As for sending
over and bringing boys here in a professional way, there
is no truth in the frequent newspaper reports to that
effect — says "the boss." In addition to his shops in Lin-
coln this proprietor has a shop in Hastings, Nebraska,
and one in St. Joseph, Missouri. Some Greeks from
another city came to Lincoln and set up a rival shop, but
they were not able to make a success of it, and sold out
their fixtures to the first comer. The proprietor says
that the boys save money, and most of them send some
home to the old folks.

In September, 1906, one of the boys employed in these
shops became dissatisfied and left his job. He circulated
complaints against his former employer which came to

161

GREEK IMMIGRATION

the ears of the secretary of the Humane Society, and he,
in company with the secretary of City Charity Associ-
ation, made an investigation. The charges stated that
the employer underfed his boys, made them work from
6.S0 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m., took away their tips, and kept
himself in debt to them to prevent their leaving him. He
refused to let them enter the night school and their wages
of S5 cents per day were not paid imtil the end of the
year. The investigators visited the rooming house where
twelve or fifteen boys were kept. They foimd the boys un-
willing to talk much about themselves or their employer,
and while a good deal of dirt was discovered, nothing
more serious was revealed and no arrests were made. The
boy was referred to one of the attorneys in the city, but
as far as can now be ascertained nothing was done, and
the case was settled out of court.*

These bootblack shops are kept open on Sunday but
are frequently closed on Greek holidays. Considerable
complaint has been made against them because at the
time of the State Fair — the rush season in Lincoln — ^they
raised their prices from the regular five cents to ten
cents. But while this may be undesirable, it would be
hard to demonstrate that in so doing they depart widely
from the practice habitual to native Americans on similar
occasions.

In the basement of the candy kitchen is a tailoring
establishment run by a Greek from Athens, who is an
intelligent and apparently well-educated man. He is very
loyal to his native city, and has some fine photographs of
Greek antiquities which he takes great pride and pleasure
in showing.

* Lincoln Dmif N^wm, September 91, 1006.

led

COLONIES IN UNITED STATES

Lincoln is a division point of the Burlington & Mis-
souri River Railroad, and a large number of Greeks
are employed on the section from time to time. The
division superintendent, when asked his opinion of the
Greeks as laborers, said that the Greeks and Italians are
about alike. The Greeks live a little better and eat more
meat. He thinks there is no better way of sizing up the
situation than to say that all foreigners are getting just
as ^^wise" as the Americans. It does not take them long
after they arrive in this country to learn all the tricks of
shirking and killing time that will help to make life easy
for them. These Greek laborers are secured through the
passenger agent of the company in Chicago, who in turn
secures them from a Greek labor agency.

In the late summer of 1908 a gang of about fifty Greeks
was at work ballasting the track along the new line of
the B. & M. R. R. out of Lincoln to the west. The fore-
man was an American and spoke of his gang as follows :

**Yes, the Greeks are good workers. This gang is
better than any bunch of Italians I ever had, except one.
They live much better than the Italians — why, they live
as well as we do. They keep their dishes clean and are
a good-natured lot. They draw their pay directly from
the railroad company, and the B. & M. has no gangs
working on any other basis, though I know of some gangs
on other railroads where the laborers are hired and paid
by a contractor, who receives his compensation from the
company."

These men were under the direction of an interpreter,
who acted as ^'sub-boss" under the foreman. He was a
Greek and a very interesting man. He first came to this
country in 1886, and has traveled considerably since.

168

GREEK IMMIGRATION

He spent some time on the west coast of Africa. His
present home is in Chicago, where he has a family. He
goes out with different gangs of men for varying periods
of time.

The laborers were an interesting, good-natured lot.
They displayed the characteristic Greek loyalty to the
old country, some of them going so far as to claim that
wages were better over there. They were drawing from
the railroad a daily wage of $1.40 — ^about twice what
they could have hoped for in Greece. They came from
all sorts of occupations on the other side. A few of them
seemed to justify the remark of the division superintendent
*^at they were "wise," but this was not general, and they
seemed to require no profanity or "bossing** to get the
work done.

While they are at work the company furnishes them
camp cars in which they live, doing their own cooking at
their own expense. These cars contain bunks, benches
and tables. Some of them, at least, are kept clean and
attractive. Mosquito netting covers the shelves where
the food is kept, and the door leading into the sleeping
quarters. The men find a good deal of fault with the
American food, particularly our custom of having every-
thing in "boxes." In Greece, they say, the food is always
fresh, and meat is eaten immediately after it is killed.
Our food is stale. In receiving visitors to their quarters
they display the gracious and pleasing hospitality so
characteristic q£ their race.

The Greeks of Lincoln are a prosperous and well-
contented lot. The City Charity Association has prac-
tically no applications from people of this race.

164

CHAPTER VIII

Economic Conditions

THE Greek colonies which have been described in the
preceding pages may be taken as representative of
the life of the Greek population of the United States — for
there is a remarkable homogeneity in the avocations and
activities of this race all over the country. Chicago, New
York and Lincoln are typical of much the larger class of
Greek settlements; Lowell represents a minor, but impor-
tant group of colonies located principally in the manu-
facturing cities of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and
Maine. The predominant industries of the Greeks in this
country are those which we have found to characterize the
three first-named cities, the management of candy kitchens
and confectionery stores, ice cream parlors, fruit stores,
fruit stands and push carts, florist shops, and bootblack-
ing establishments. Stated concisely, the Greeks in this
country are for the most part engaged in catering to the
minor wants of a highly organized and differentiated in-
dustrial population. A smaller number are engaged in
a line of business which, though closely related to the
others, has to do with the satisfaction of one of the major
wants — ^the running of restaurants, lunch rooms and, to
a less extent, hotels.

The extent to which the Greeks have got control of
the fruit and candy business in this country would be
amazing if it were not so familiar to even the casual
observer. It would be tiresome and unprofitable to
attempt to give a list or even an enumeration of the estab-

165

GREEK IMMIGRATION

lishments of this kind operated by Greeks all over the
country. Table 15 is taken from the Greek-American
business directory given in the Thermopyls Ahnanac for
1904, and shows the number of cities in the different states
which according to this publication contain at least one
of the kinds of shop mentioned, operated by Greeks. The
similar directory, given in the Greek- American Guide for
1909, contains so many names of Greek firms engaged in
these businesses that it would be tedious to recount them.
A few examples of some of the more important cities will
convey the idea: Buffalo, N. Y., eleven confectioners;
Birmingham, Ala., fifteen confectioners, thirty-three fruit
dealers; San Francisco, Cal., seven confectioners, three
fruit dealers; Atlanta, Ga., thirty-two confectioners, nine
fruit dealers; Baltimore, Md., forty-one confectioners,
etc. ; Boston, Mass., twenty-two confectioners, forty-three
fruit dealers (about fifteen of these are said to be whole-
sale) ; St. Louis, Mo., nineteen confectioners; Philadel-
phia, nineteen confectioners, three fruit dealers; Mil-
waukee, Wis., seventeen fruit and candy dealers, etc.

In short, not only in the large cities but in the smaller
towns and even villages the Greeks are approaching year
by year nearer to a monopoly of this line of business. One
grows to expect to find a Greek candy store in every new
place he visits. The large place that confectionery sell-
ing holds In the life of the Greek- American people is well
illustrated by the large amount of advertising space
devoted to this line of business in the Greek papers. (See
Table 16.) In entering the fruit and candy trade the
Greeks came into competition with other older-established
nationalities, particularly the Italians, and almost uni-
versally the Greeks have held their own, and usually dis-

166

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

placed the others. One of the best examples of this is in
Boston.* Fruit and candy are often combined in one
store, as are also candy and ice cream. Flowers are some-
times included in the stock of a candy store, but more
usually sold separately. In the flower business, especially
in New York, boys are extensively used in street selling.

In seeking for the explanation of the predilection of the
Greeks for these lines of business we get little light from
a surrey of conditions on the other side. It is true that
the Greeks are very fond of sweets, and are very skillful
in their manufacture. But Greek sweets are mostly of
a different nature from American candies, and the Greeks
who are engaged in this business in the United States do
not to any considerable extent come from similar occupa-
tions on the other side. The principal explanation is to
be found in the nature of the businesses themselves. The
trade in fruit, candy and flowers is one which can be
started with small capital and little experience, but can
be expanded gradually until it reaches very profitable
proportions. The average Greek immigrant does not
bring enough money with him to establish himself in a
fixed business. But he can buy a push cart, or even a
small tray hung over his shoulder, on which he can place
a small stock of sweetmeats or fruit, and stationing him-
self on a street comer, begin doing business. Or if his
resources and ability are still more limited, he can at least
get hold of a few bunches of flowers, which he can offer for
sale. Give a Greek a start in business and he will do the
rest. However small his earnings he manages to save a
part of them, and in the course of time he has amassed
enough to enter on the second stage of the progression.

* BuBhee, Ethnic Factors in the Population of Boston, pp. 67, 73.

167

GREEK IMMIGRATION

He gets control of a small sidewalk space and puts up a
little stand where he can keep a larger stock of goods,
and have a permanent location. From now on his advance-
ment is rapid. Very soon he is able to rent a small store,
with or without sidewalk space in front, and then it is only
a matter of time and ability until he is operating a finely
appointed store on one of the best streets of the city, or
perhaps owns a chain of stores which ensure him the bulk
of the trade of the place.

Of course, many of the more recent immigrants are
spared the first one or two stages, as the great majority
of those who are coming now have friends already estab-
lished in the business, who give them a place in their own
store until they have saved enough to start in on their
own responsibility. This suggests the second great expla-
nation for the point under discussion. Given a number of
Greeks already established in a certain kind of business
and the later comers of the same race will follow their lead
like a flock of sheep. As one intelligent Greek told me,
a Greek is afraid to strike out into any field where no one
of his people has preceded him. He himself had tried to
establish a large meat farm. He came into conflict with
the beef trust and his experiment cost him $10,000. It
is the most natural thing in the world that immigrants
coming to this country, ignorant of the language and
customs, should take up departments of business in which
others of their own nationality have succeeded, and in
which many of their personal friends are engaged.

The fruit business lends itself to the push-cart trade
more readily than the candy business. But the latter is
preferred by the Greeks, perhaps because of the less per-
ishable nature of the goods, and it is the most important

168

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

Greek industry in the country. One of the first Greeks,
if not the very first, to establish himself in the candy busi-
ness in the United States was Mr. John Frankopoulos, or
^^Franklin," as he now calls himself. He started business
in Boston where he still has a factory. His plan was to
start branch stores in other cities and put them in charge
of his friends. As the latter got the mastery of the busi-
ness, he would sell the stores to them and start others else-
where. At the present time he is said to own stores all
over the country. Greek candy stores, wherever found,
are apt to be quite uniform in type, perhaps because, in a
sense, they all belong to one family. There are probably
very few proprietors of such places who have not served
an apprenticeship in a similar one kept by one of their
fellow countrymen. Quite generally they contain facili-
ties for selling ice cream and soda water, in addition to
candy. Mirrors are very much in evidence, and the fur-
nishings are* apt to be somewhat gaudy, but the public
parts at least are almost invariably scrupulously clean,
and the general appearance of the store attractive. These
stores usually manufacture their own goods. One of the
finest of these establishments is on the comer of Van-
Buren and State Streets in Chicago. The appointments
are all of the finest quality. A peculiarly dazzling effect
is produced by a double string of many colored ribbons
running in two directions over the face of the mirrors
which line the walls of the room. This store combines all
four departments of the business, fruit, candy, powers,
and ice cream and soda.

The best evidence of the quality of service rendered by
the Greeks in these lines, is that they succeed. The Aiqer-
ican people are not usually systematically defrauded in

109

GREEK IMMIGRATION

matters of this kind. Gknerally speaking, the confec*
tionery business in this country is in much better shape
than it was a few years ago. The flagrant abuses, such
as the use of paris green as a coloring matter, have largely
disappeared. Within the last few years there has been
started a publication called "Purity," devoted to the in-
terests of pure food. It contains a list of violators of
food laws all over the country. In the files for 1908 there
appear a number of cases of convictions for adulteration
of candy, and while among them the names of some of
the leading American manufacturers are found, there are
no Greek names. Several state reports of dairy and food
commissioners, etc., were also examined, but no Greek
violators of pure food laws were found. As a concrete
example I purchased nine samples of candies from four
different Greek stores in New Haven, Conn., which were
examined by the State Experiment Station, through the
courtesy of Mr. J. P. Street and other officers. In select-
ing the samples I took pains to choose cheap and, as far
as possible, highly colored candies, as they would be the
most likely to show any faults. Highly colored candies
are by no means common, however, in these stores. The
result of the examination was summarized by Mr. Street
in the following words :

"I found no mineral make-weight, no terra alba, barytes
or similar material. The chocolate coatings in all cases
were made of pure chocolate, that is, no iron salts were
present. Several of the candies were colored with coal-
tar colors, but the quantity of material did not permit of
their identification, so I cannot say whether those used
were harmful or not. It is probable, however, that the
quantity present could have no injurious effect."

170

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

Prophecy is at best a hazardous pastime, yet in con-
eluding our discussion of this part of the economic life of
the Greeks in the United States, we may say that the indi-
tuitions are that if immigration from Greece should keep
up at its present rate for twenty years to come, at the end
of that period the candy business of the country, the soda
fountains, and perhaps the fruit business, would be a
Greek monopoly.

In entering the restaurant business the Greeks are doing
what might well be expected from their natural proclivi-
ties. In their home country they attach great impor-
tance to matters of diet and appear to be a nation of nat-
ural bom cooks. The restaurants in this country are
divided into two classes : those which cater to the America
trade and are patterned after our own, and those which
are made as nearly as possible like the eating houses in
Greece, in order to attract the Greek patronage. The
former are usually clean and well kept up. The latter are
not always particularly inviting to a stranger. The
Greek type of restaurant is probably the most numerous,
though the other is beginning to hold a considerable place,
especially in the southern states. The Greeks have thirty-
six restaurants in Atlanta, Ga., where they are said to
practically control the business. In Birmingham, Ala.,
there are twelve hotels and fourteen restaurants, in St.
Louis, Mo., twenty-six restaurants, in Pittsburg, Pa.,
twenty-five restaurants, etc. There are also, all over the
country, large numbers of Greeks working as waiters,
cooks and dishwashers in hotels and restaurants run by
Americans.

The shoe-shining business, though more limited in its
possibilities than the fruit and candy businesses, resembles

171

GREEK IMMIGRATION

them in the fact that it can be begun with small capital
and little experience, and extended gradually. It differs
from them in being especially adaptable to the padrone
system. This vicious form of practical slavery has been
largely developed by the Italians and takes its name from
the Italian word '^padrone," or master. But it is also
decidedly characteristic of the Greek nation. It may be
briefly described as follows :

A foreigner who has been in this country a few years,
and has got some command of the language, and knowl-
edge of the customs of the country, establishes himself in
some business — the bootblacking trade, par excellence —
in which he needs the assistance of a number of boys, who
need have no special ability or training. Through means
which will be described later, he secures from his home
country half a dozen or more boys, who are under agree-
ment to work for him for a specified length of time at a
fixed remuneration. These boys are kept all together in
a room, or suite of rooms, hired by the padrone. He fur-
nishes everything except their clothes and shoes. In many
cases he acts as the agent in practically every transaction
which the boys have with t}ie outside world, such as pur-
chasing goods, sending money home, etc. He thus has
opportunity to defraud the boys to his own profit in a
variety of ways without any restrictions save such as are
placed by his own scruples — ^which are all too frequently
wholly lacking. The boys are kept at work long hours,
and thereby prevented from attending night schools or
learning English in any other way. They are, therefore,
unable to learn the customary wages or living conditions
of the country, and work on year after year in ignorance
of the injustices which they are actually suffering.

173

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

This is the system which the Greeks have applied to the
bootblacking trade in the United States, especially in the
western states. It has reached its fullest development in
Chicago, where the Greeks have a practical monopoly of
the business, but it exists in many other cities in the Union,
particularly in the Middle West. In New York and
Boston the Italians are too numerous and too firmly in-
trenched to allow the Greeks to have displaced them as
yet. However, in both these cities they have made a good
start, and if they do not get control in a few years it will
be contrary to their usual rule. Like the candy stores,
these shoe-shining parlors are of a uniform type all over
the country. They are usually small store rooms, in good
locations, fitted up with from a dozen to twenty chairs,
electric fans, hat cleaners, etc. Very frequently tobacco
is sold, and sometimes there is a barber-shop or pool hall
in conjunction. In this business, as in so many others,
the Greeks have proved themselves superior to the Italians.
The shops are cleaner and better kept up. The boys are
much quieter and more respectful, and do notf' J^blfer to
each other in a foreign language, which is very annoying
to an American patron. The Greek boys attend to busi-
ness better and give a better shine than the Italians. The
uniform price all over the country is five cents per shine.

To get at the origin of this system among the Greeks
in this country we must examine affairs in their native
land. The bootblack is a prominent and familiar figure
in Greece, not only in the larger cities, but in many of
the smaller ones. With their characteristic fondness for
dress and a fastidious appearance, the Greeks pay a great
deal of attention to the neatness of their shoes. As the
price of a shine is only one or two cents, even those in

173

GREEK IMMIGRATION

moderate circumstances can afford to have their shoes
attended to quite frequently. Here the shining is done
outdoors or in the coffee-houses; there are few, if any,
indoor shining parlors in Greece. The bootblacks have
a small box or chest in which they keep their brushes,
pastes, etc. On the top of the box is a rest, where the
patron places his foot. Some of the bootblacks carry a
small chair on which they sit as they work. Athens and
Patras contain large numbers of these small boys, or
^^Xovorrpoi** as they are called. They are largely employed
as errand and messenger boys, and bear a splendid repu-
tation for honesty. The surprising thing, however, is
that very few of them are natives of the cities in which
they work. Ask a *'Xov<rrpos" where his home is, and with
amazing regularity the answer comes, ^^Megalopolis.'*
Further inquiry reveals a very interesting state of affairs,
which deserves to be recounted in some detail.

On account of the national dowry system which has
been described above (see page S9), daughters in Greece
are esteemed a burden, and their advent a misfortune.
On the other hand, a boy is an asset, and is expected very
soon to begin to contribute to the income of the family.
In the central districts of the Peloponnesus, and especially
around Tripolis and Megalopolis, the custom has grown
up of expecting a boy -as soon as he reaches the age of
ten or twelve to go away and begin to earn money to
support his parents. These little lads are sent away to
cities all over Greece, and the Greek cities in Turkey.
They are employed in the coffee-houses and grocery stores,
as well as in the bootblacking trade. The terms of their
service are very hard. They are said to earn from $10
to $S0 per year, in return for which they must work from

174

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

six o'clock in the morning till twelve at night or even
later, 866 days in the year. Their food is bread, cheese,
and olives or sardines, with cooked meat once or twice a
week. They are brutally treated by their employers in
many cases.*

Megalopolis is the center of this practice. There are
plenty of small children in evidence on the streets of the
village, but one ^(Micely sees a boy between twelve and
eighteen. I was t9^ by an'yjnerican gentleman residing
in Athens, that four or five years ago he had visited
Megalopolis and found the town practically cleaned out
as far as boys were concerned. A Greek from America
had just been there, and had taken about 150 boys back
with him.

There are in the neighborhood of 1,000 of these little
"AoiNrrpoi" in Athens, mostly from Megalopolis and the
neighboring districts of Tripolis and Messenia. A great
many of them, particularly the newcomers, are under the
control of a padrone. These boys are customarily sold
to the boss by their parents for the term of a year for
200 to S50 drachmas. Different bosses have different
arrangements with their boys. Some furnish everything
that the boys need and require them to turn in all their
earnings; others furnish sleeping quarters and perhaps
part of the food, and require the boys to turn in one and
a half drachmas each every evening, the balance of their
earnings to be used for the rest of their food, and their
other necessities. The term of service of these boys is
seldom over a year or two. When they have learned the
ropes, four or five or more of them will club together and
hire a room for about fifteen drachmas per month, and
* A. A. Seraphic PreUminary Report, Greek Bootblacks.

175

GREEK IMMIGRATION

go into business independently. They earn from two to
three drachmas per day, and save about fifteen drachmas
per month. They usually stop work about sundown.
Their food is bread and cheese, and occasionally a tomato
or something of that sort. I asked one of them how many
times a day they ate. He looked rather surprised and
replied, "Why, whenever we get hungry.**

An evening school, called the "Ragged School," is con-
ducted for these boys by the Parnassus Club, one of the
fashionable organizations of the city. It is supported
partly by subscriptions, but mainly from the proceeds of
a grand ball given under the auspices of the Queen, the
tickets for which are sometimes sold for as high as 100
drachmas each. The teachers are paid, but the head of
the school, who is an official in one of the banks, gives his
valuable services free. There are about 700 boys in the
school. They are taught writing, reading, grammar,
letter writing and such elementary branches. When a
visitor enters they are taught to hold up both hands and
wave their handkerchiefs, to show how clean they are.
The bosses allow the boys to attend these schools, from
which many of them are graduates. Attendance at these
schools is voluntary and there is no charge for tuition.

The padrone system, then, has been long established in
Greece. Nobody seems to see anything out of the way
in the practice of requiring these small boys to support
their parents — for even after they have started working
independently their earnings all go home. One cannot
help wondering if the old child tax, to which the country
was subjected during so many years of Moslem control,
may have had something to do with breaking down the
bonds of family affection, and in causing the equanimity

176

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

with which parents undergo separation from their ten- and
twelye-year-old boys. And however one may despise the
calloiis and indolent fathers, he cannot help admiring the
brayery, industry and faithfulness of the little fellows,
who start out to make a Hying for their parents at such
a tender age.

The eyils of the padrone system in Greece are limited
by the fact that the boys are familiar with the language
and customs of the country, and cannot be imposed upon
to the extent that is possible in a foreign country .0 While
the Hying apartments and food of the boys are far from
what we would consider satisfactory, they are not particu-
larly bad compared with the ordinary Hving conditions
of the laboring class of the country, and the term of ser-
vice is usually a short one. When transplanted to the
United States, however, this system contains possibiUties
of extreme abuse. The boys are unfamiUar with the
living and laboring conditions in this country, and being
ignorant of the language, they have no means of inform-
ing themselves. They are kept closely confined to their
place of business and sleeping quarters, and are very
largely prevented from coming in contact with the Ameri-
can world in which they are placed. They are practically
at the mercy of their boss, and their treatment depends
on his personal will and pleasure. The boss, on his part,
is seldom inclined to use his power leniently, and the con-
ditions resulting from this state of affairs have been so
bad as to lead the United States government to devote a
good deal of attention to the bootblacking trade in this
country. The official interest in the matter is increased
by the fact that many of these boys are in this country
in violation of the contract labor law. For some years

177

GREEK IMMIGRATION

past the government has had a special immigrant inspec-
tor, Mr. A. A. Seraphic, himself a Greek, whose main
business has been the investigation of conditions among
the Greeks in this country, particularly those engaged in
the bootblacldng trade. From an unpublished preliminary
report of his, kindly put at my disposal by Secretary
Straus, much of the information contained in the follow-
ing few paragraphs has been derived. Mr. Seraphic
paints the situation in very dark colors, and it seems prob-
able that his official interest in violations of law and op-
pression may have led him to somewhat over-emphasize the
evil conditions, and neglect to give their due place to those
shops where the boys are more kindly treated. Yet gen-
erally speaking conditions are undoubtedly bad enough to
warrant a sweeping condemnation of the entire system in
this country.

The importation of Greek boys for this business began
about twelve years ago, and has attained very considerable
proportions as the large number of Greek boys who are
admitted to this country — to say nothing of those who
are debarred — ^under the age of fourteen indicates. (See
page lis.) These boys are almost always secured with
the consent of their parents. Sometimes the bargain is
made directly with the parents, sometimes with the boys.
Considerable use is made of the ^^Kovfiirdpoi" or godfather
relationship, in securing the consent of the parents to
let the boys go. A Greek from America will go back to
his native village, and being a person of considerable
importance, he can easily manage to stand godfather to
a number of boys. Later on, he is able to make use of
this relationship in bringing over boys whom he needs in
his business. Sometimes the padrone pays a fixed sum to

178

• •:

••"*

• •r •

•••

• •
••••

:-••

tf • ••

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

the father for the use of his boy for a fixed term of years.
Sometimes he agrees to pay the boy's transportation, and
give him a certain yearly salary as long as he works for
him. These contracts are almost always oral, to evade
the contract labor law.

As soon as the boys arrive in this country, they are
taken to the rooms of the padrone, which from this time
on are to be their *%ome," and are at once put to work
in the shop. Thus begins a period of practical slavery.
The hours of work are very long — ^usually from six or
seven o'clock in the morning until ten or eleven at night,
or even longer.* In the large cities it is said that some
of the padrones, to save rent, have the sleeping quarters
of the boys at long distances from their place of business,
so that the boys have to walk nearly an hour to their work
in the morning and back again in the evening. This time
is taken from their sleep. As a rule the boys have to
work every day in the year, though some padrones give
their boys, half a day, or even a day, off per week, and
some close the shops on Greek holidays. Mr. Seraphic
says that when he has won the confidence of the boys, they
often plead with tears in their eyes for him to have the
^^King" or President close the shops on Sundays.

The sleeping quarters are usually sadly overcrowded.
Three or four boys are kept in a small room, and some-
times made to sleep in one bed. One little boy told me
that in the house where he was kept there were fifty men,
and they had to sleep five in a bed. The rooms are kept
in a filthy condition, and there is no ventilation, so that
the air becomes extremely vile. The boys usually do their
own cooking and take turns at it, two by two. The two

* Omaha Daily B««, June 10, 1908.

179

GREEK IMMIGRATION

boys who are appointed to do the cooking for the next
day have to stay up the night before and wash the cloths
from the shop. The breakfast is a very light one. The
two boys who are left at home prepare a quantity of food
in the morning. Half of it is taken to the shop for lunch,
where the boys are compelled to eat hurriedly in the inter-
vals of trade, in a rear or basement room. The other
half of the food is warmed up for supper. This food is
probably preferable to what the boys would get at home,
at least in variety, but falls far short of the American idea
of adequate nutriment. The charge is sometimes made
that the bosses purposely refuse to allow the boys to attend
the night schools in order to prevent their learning enough
to become dissatisfied. Others say that the boys simply
cannot be spared from the business. In either case the
result is the same — ^the boys are prevented from coming
in touch with American life, and learning American ways
of doing things. The restricted life of these boys, and
their close confinement to the shop and the rooms are
appalling. Many of the boys endeavor to improve their
minds, and one often sees those who are not working read-
ing a Greek newspaper, or even spelling out the words in
some simple English book. As a rule they are a patient,
uncomplaining lot, though when one talks to them of their
parents and their home country, the deep homesickness
down in their hearts finds plain expression in their faces
in many instances. The long hours, poor food, bad air
and stooping posture of their work drive many of them
into consumption and other pulmonary troubles.

The wages of these boys are variously stated. Mr.
Seraphic places the average yearly wage at from $180 to
$175. Others put it considerably higher. (See pages

180

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

151 and 160.) Probably taking the whole country into
consideration the average wage of all boys employed in
these shops would be in the neighborhood of $800, n
including board and lodging, which are also furnished by
the padrone.* Probably the bulk of these earnings is
sent home to relatives in Greece. If the boys were allowed
to keep the tips which they receive their earnings would
be much greater. But in the great majority of cases this
is not done.t Sometimes the original agreement with the
boy or his parents provides that the boss shall keep the
tips; sometimes he merely takes them. In some padrone
houses the boys are searched when they come back from
work, and any money they may have in their clothes is
taken from them. So that the generous-hearted patron,
who thinks that his extra nickel is helping along the in-
dustrious little boy who has shined his shoes so well, in the
majority of cases is merely contributing to the already
large profits of the boss, and enabling him to extend his
questionable business. The total amount of these tips is
considerable. Mr. Seraphic states that they run from
40 cents per day per boy in small places, to $1 or $2 per
day per boy in the large cities. This is often enough to
pay the salary of the boy and go a good ways towards
covering his expenses also. The bosses are said to derive
a clear profit of from $800 to $500 per year on each boy.
The tipping system, combined with the abundant suppl
of cheap labor, is the key note of the success of the boot-
blacking business in this country as conducted by the
Greeks.

Summing up this industry among the Greeks, Mr.

* Omaha Daily B€§, June 9 and 10, 1906.
tDo.

181

GREEK IMMIGRATION

Seraphic says, **The conditions now, although an improve*
ment over what they were four years ago, are still so bad
as to deserve unqualified condemnation." The question
naturally arises, Why do the boys stand it? The answer
has already been hinted at, and may be summed up in one
word — ^Ignorance. These boys have no understanding of
laboring conditions or rates of wages in this country, and
with their lack of contact with Americans, are unable to
get any. In general their condition, except in the matter
of length of hours, is as good as they would expect on the
other side. To be sure, the indoor work in this country
is much worse for them than the outdoor life which similar
occupations involve in Greece, but they do not know
enough to know it. Their clothing is much better here
than there, and their wages seem munificent. In fact they
excuse the bosses for keeping their tips on the ground that
the wages are high and expenses heavy. The padrones
intimidate them by telling them that they are all violators
I of the law, and that if they say anything the officials will
get track of them, and put them in prison or send them
home. So thoroughly are they imbued with this idea of
silence that it is almost impossible to get them to make any
complaints against their employers, and time after time
attempts to get at the true condition of aiFairs and secure
the boys justice, in various parts of the country, have
been foiled by the absolute impossibility of getting any
evidence from the only available source — the boys them-
selves. When put on the stand, the boys flatly refuse to
answer questions, and say that though their right hands
were cut off they would not talk. This reticence is partly
due to the suspicion of the motives of the investigators
which the bosses have instiUed into their minds, and partly

183

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

to a peculiar loyalty to the padrone and faithfulness to the
terms of the agreement that characterize the whole class.
And when a boy does get a command of the English lan-
guage and a familiarity with the ways of the land, instead
of turning traitor to the system, he simply goes into busi-
ness on his own account, and puts the experience of his
past years to profit.

The statements of the padrones to the boys, that they
are all law breakers, are well founded. Mr. Seraphic
says that nine out of ten of these boys are in the country
in violation of law. The two clauses of the law, which are
particularly involved, are the provision regarding con-
tract laborers and the clause refusing admission to alien
children under sixteen years of age unless accompanied
by one or both of their parents. In evading both these
laws the Greeks display their characteristic cunning and
unscrupulousness. As stated above, agreements between
padrones and parents are almost always verbal. Any
writing that has to be done is generally entrusted to a
third person. The fact of the agreement is so carefully
concealed that it is almost impossible to get any evidence
of it. The boys are thoroughly coached before landing,
and testify positively that they have no promise of work
of any kind, but will take the first honest job they can find.

The age law is evaded usuaUy in two ways — by fraudu-
lent relationships or by false affidavits of age. Both are
extremely difficult to detect. A crowd of Greeks starting
from some interior village can easily arrange a scheme of
relationship which will baffle the inspectors and answer
every purpose. Oftentimes a boy will state that he is
going to join a father, uncle or brother in some city of
the United States, giving the full name and address.

188

GREEK IMMIGRATION

Correspondence sent to the address given is promptly
answered, and the statements of the boy are substantiated
in full. There is nothing to do but to let the boy in.
One of the veteran inspectors told me of such a case, where
the boy claimed that a certain man in St. Louis was his
father. Authorities on Ellis Island at once telegraphed
to the St. Louis man, asking whether the boy's statement
was true, and received an affirmative answer. The boy
was allowed to go on. But the suspicions of the authori-
ties remained active, and my informant eventually made
a trip to St. Louis to investigate the case. It was dis-
covered that the presumptive father was no relation at
all, but a padrone who was importing boys for his shop.

The matter of the age of Greek boys has caused a great
deal of trouble to the authorities in this country, not only
on account of the immigration laws, but also on account
of the child labor laws of various states. The boys them-
selves will swear to whatever age is necessary to secure
their admission or to make their employment legal in the
place they are Uving in. If the minimum age of employ-
ment is fourteen years, it is amazing how many Greek
boys there wiU be just fifteen years of age. The expe-
rience of officials in these cases has been such as to cause
most of them to regard the affidavit of a Greek, in matters
of this sort, as of absolutely no value whatever. Recourse
has been had to the birth certificates sent from the officials
in Greece, but these too have come to be regarded as
wholly worthless. There is no official record of births
kept in Greece, and the only source of authority as to the
age of a child, is the baptismal certificate. But these are
not kept with any degree of accuracy or uniformity.
When the United States government wishes to ascertain

184

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

the age of any Greek boy, the mayor of his village is
asked to send a certificate. But this mayor is probably
a personal friend of the family, or at any rate is anxious
to please his constituency, and if he receives an intimation
that the boy in question is supposed to be at least seven-
teen years old, in a majority of cases he is ready to make
the certificate out accordingly. One of the best-known
Greeks in Lowell, a young man of high aims who is called
on to do a great deal of interpreting, pulled out from his
desk a big stack of yellow papers, all of which he said
were false age certificates, and represented only a small
part of what had come to him. Even a true certificate
adds a year to a boy's age, for the Greeks in reckoning
ages count the year upon which one has entered, instead
of the one which he has completed. For these causes it
is a very difficult matter to secure convictions on these
counts. Nevertheless the strenuous eiForts of the govern-
ment to check this practice have not been wholly fruitless,
and a number of convictions have been secured. For
instance, Mr. Seraphic in his report mentions eighteen
indictments in Chicago, on the grounds of conspiracy and
violation of section 8 of the Act of March 8, 1908 (con-
cerning those who bring in aliens not lawfully entitled to
admission). Of these, eight cases resulted in convictions
with fines of from $25 to $500 and from thirty to sixty
days in jail. Nine cases were still pending. Many
would-be violators of the law have also been detected at
the ports of arrival and refused admission. (See page
116.) The report of the Conmiissioner-General of Immi-
gration for 1904 (page 88) contains the following
paragraph :

[Violators of the contract labor law] ^*are divided into

185

GREEK IMMIGRATION

two classes. There are those who are brought to do work
in this country for less than similar laborers here would
charge for the same work, and there are those who are
brought in pursuance of what is popularly known as the
^padrone system' — ^in fact a system of peonage or slavery.
A familiar instance of the latter class is found in the
Greek bootblacking establishments scattered through our
large cities, operated usually by Greek lads ranging from

ten to eighteen years of age During the last four

months of the year there arrived at the port of Boston
alone 898 of these youths, 127 of whom were returned.
.... The greatest care is exercised to stop these aliens
and return them, both because of the inconsistency of the
padrone system with those principles of freedom upon
which our form of government is based, and because the
importation of contract labor is forbidden."

Our final judgment in regard to the padrone system
can only be that it is a standing reproach to the Greek
population of the United States, and a menace to the free
labor principles of our country.

Allied to the padrone system is the contract labor
system as applied to the railroad laborers in the Middle
West. Mr. Seraphic says that the majority of these
laborers in Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas are imported
in violation of the contract labor law. The system of
procedure is somewhat as follows: A semi- Americanized
Greek goes to a railroad company, and agrees to furnish
a certain number of laborers. He then goes over to his
own country and persuades fifty or one hundred men to
accompany him back to America. He supplies them with
prepaid tickets, and takes a mortgage on their property
to the amount of two, three or four times the value of the

186

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

ticket. He then brings them with him back to America,
and makes them work for him seven or eight months for
nothing, to repay him for an outlay of probably not over
$100 or $125 each. In some cases an importer, who has
taken mortgages far in excess of the amount he has
expended, will arbitrarily discharge a crowd of men two
or three weeks after he has brought them over, to make
room for another similar set. Those whom he has dis-
charged must find work for themselves somewhere to pay
off their mortgages. The Greeks display a strange faith-
fulness in paying off debts of this kind, no matter how
badly they have been treated, even if the agreement was
simply oral. Other agents or ^^interpreters'' pick up
their men in this country, particularly in Chicago. The
railroad company agrees to pay the interpreter a certain
sum per man for a gang of forty or so men, and the inter-
preter pays the men whatever he can get them for, usually
sufficiently less to leave him a handsome margin of profit.
Systems similar to the ones above described are in vogue
in the fruit-peddling business in Illinois, and even in the
factory industries of Lowell and the neighboring towns.
In fact, one of the greatest indictments against the
Greeks in this country — ^perhaps the greatest — ^is their
habit of exploiting each other. When a Greek gets a
certain mastery of American ways, the chances are that
he will at once begin to put his acquirements to use in
making money out of his less experienced countrymen.
As has been seen, this may be done in a variety of ways.
One of the immigration officials in Omaha told me that the
Greeks never missed an opportunity to press any advan-
tage of this sort. If a Greek who knows a little English
sees a policeman engaged in some altercation with a Greek

187

GREEK IMMIGRATION

peddler or push-cart man, the former immediately encour-
ages the officer to arrest the latter, and then offers to act
as interpreter in order that he may get the fee. This is
of course an unimportant case, but it well illustrates the
attitude of mind.

In evading the laws which prohibit these nefarious prac-
tices, the Greek shows himself a master of every trick and
artifice. False affidavits, assumed names, and plain lying
are all used with the greatest effect. There is a little
book published in Greek in Patras which contains full
instructions as to the proper answers to make to the in-
quiries of the inmiigration authorities, in order to best
secure admission. When it comes to the question in
regard to any promise of employment, it informs the inmii-
grant that here is the place to be firm, and whatever the
facts may be to put on a bold front, and answer that he
has no idea of what he is going to do, but will take the
first honest job he can find. A significant paragraph
warns the immigrant to destroy the book before reaching
the shores of America.

It must not be assumed, however, because these prac-
tices are characteristic of the race, that they are univer-
sal. It is only justice to say that a large number of the
more enlightened Greeks in this country are just as much
opposed as anybody to these abuses, and are willing to do
all in their power to stop them.

The industries which have been described in the pre-
ceding pages employ the great bulk of the Greeks in the
United States. The class of occupations which ranks
next in importance is that which we have seen exemplified
in the case of Lowell, employment in factories. In these
occupations the Greeks may be said to rank about on a

188

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

level with the other nationalities among whom they work.
Employers as a rule speak well of them as factory hands,
though some of the factories in Maine have found them
too excitable and unsteady to be good workers, and are
turning them off. As far as the Greeks themselves are
concerned, however, it would appear that factory employ-
ment is the most disadvantageous of any of the charac-
teristic occupations into which they enter in this country.
It tends to crowd them together in unhealthy tenements,
which they do not know how, or do not care, to keep in the
most sanitary condition possible. It leads to the employ-
ment of young girls in unhygienic factories. The close
and dust-laden air proves disastrous to both old and
young, accustomed as they are to the open air of their
native fields and hillsides. In such employment there is
not the same opportunity for advancement and material
progress as there is when the Greek can employ his native
talents in the prosecution of some independent business.

In all these avocations, the Greeks display that remark-
able adaptability and versatility which is so characteristic
of the race. When it is remembered that practically all of
them come from a purely pastoral or agricultural life,
perhaps never having been in a city of 10,000 inhabitants,
nor ever having engaged in any larger mercantile transac-
tion than the sale of a few dollars' worth of farm produce,
it is decidedly surprising to see them succeeding so well in
the highly developed commercial life of our nation.

Scattered over the country are small groups of Greeks
engaged in a variety of miscellaneous occupations. On
the shores of the Atlantic near Newport, and of the
Pacific around San Francisco, are little settlements of
Greek fishers. In Florida, with their headquarters at

189

GREEK IMMIGRATION

Tarpon Springs, is quite a colony of Greek sponge fishersy
said to be the superiors in their line of any people in the
world. The railroad workers who have already been
mentioned in connection with the contract labor problem
are a numerous body, and are considered very good work-
men. In Utah there are a number of miners, while still
further west, in California, the Greeks have become well
established in the fruit-raising business. The steamships
sailing to and from American ports carry a number of
Greek firemen, and they are also employed in some sta-
tionary plants on shore, where they are said to render
excellent service.

The number of Greek farmers in this country is sur-
prisingly small, when their origin is considered. There
are a few farmers around Boston, and very probably in
other parts of the country, but they are so few as to
attract no attention. The reasons for this state of affairs
are probably that farming in this country as a rule re-
quires a considerable amount of capital, and that no
Greek has so far made a conspicuous success in this de-
partment. One reason suggested by a thoughtful Greek
seems to have a good deal of weight — ^namely, that igno-
rance of the language makes it very difficult for a Greek
to get a start in this direction, far away from others of
his race. If a little farming colony of Greeks could once
be well started there is every probability that it would
succeed, and prosper, and increase. One enterprising
Greek of Lowell, who has already been referred to,
cherishes the idea of sometime securing a tract of land,
say in Texas, and organizing such a colony. For the sake
of the Greeks, as well as of our own country, it is to be
hoped that this commendable plan will materialize.

190

CHAPTER IX

Social Conditions

TN whatever occupations the Greeks enter, the majority
^ of them are successful, at least from a pecuniary
point of view. This is due both to their native business
ability and to their thrifty, and more than thrifty, abste-
mious, habits of life. The earnings of the laboring class
are not large. As we have seen, factory hands earn on
the average about $9 per week; boys in the shoe-shining
parlors, about $200 per year and their keep; railroad
laborers receive about $1.45 per day. The profits of men
engaged in independent business of course vary, and any
estimated average would have little significance* But
however small the yearly receipts may be, the Greek almost
invariably manages to save part of them, usually about
half. Part of this money is laid away, but a goodly share
is sent home. Various attempts have been made to estimate
the amount of money that passes in this way from America
to Greece each year. This is a difficult thing to accom-
plish owing to the fact that the remittances are made in
many difi^erent forms, postal money orders, checks, drafts
and American paper money. Statistics of these matters
are not carefully kept in Greece. Mr. Horton states that
a conservative estimate places the amount of money sent
from America to Greece in 190S at about $4,000,000 ; in
1904, about $8,000,000. The postmaster-general of
Greece, about 1906, estimated this flow of money at about
$8,000,000, but as his only certain basis of judgment was
the amount of the single item of postal money orders,

191

GREEK IMMIGRATION

which he reckoned as one-eighth of the total, his figure is
hardly more than a shrewd guess. The director of the
Tripolis branch of the Ionian Bank told me that the
annual amount of money sent from America to Greece
averaged in ordinary years about $49000,000, though in
1908 on account of the crisis it fell off considerably. The
post office in Tripolis received the following amounts in
money orders from America in the years named; the
approximate equivalent in American money is given :

1905 918383.00

1906 06,380.00

1907 54^453.00

1908 39,419.00

Mr. Charles E. Speare in an article in the North Ameri-
can Review estimates the total amount of money sent from
the United States to Greece in this way at $5,000,000, or
an average of $50 per capita. This is the highest average
remittance of any of the nationalities mentioned in the
article, the figures given for the other races being as
follows: Grermans, $4.05; English and Irish, $7.14;
Italians, $80.00 ; Slavs, $28.10 ; Russians, $14.80.*

The career of many of the Greeks in this country is an
interesting story of very rapid progress from penury to
comparative afiluence. The New York Times of December
16« 1907, gives an account of a Greek who came to St.
Louis penniless, and started business as a push-cart man.
In ten years he had amassed over $100,000 and left for
his native land to start a bank. The individual story may
or may not be authentic, but as a type it is true. Thirteen
years ago a Greek immigrant landed in New York City

* Quoted in the Report of the Ministry-at-Large, Lowell, Mass.*
IQOTy page 8.

SOCIAL CONDITIONS

with one franc in his pocket. At that time there were
only about 800 persons of his nationality in the city. For
the first few months he worked in a laundry, and then
went into the cigarette business for a few months more.
By that time he had managed to save enough money to
start a little importing business on his own account. His
first shipment was a little oil, a case of cheese, and one
or two other small items of like nature. He now has a
flourishing importing and grocery business, with two
stores on Madison Street, and was president of the Greek
Orthodox Community when the Greeks of the city were
united. Not all Greeks of course have as prosperous a
career as this; some do better, many worse. There are a
few Greek firms in the country whose capital mounts well
up into the millions, and there are many Greeks who are
making the barest living. But practically every Greek
in the country is self-supporting — either by his own labors
or by the labors of others whom he controls. We have
seen that in Chicago, Lowell, New York and Lincoln the
Greeks are a negligible factor in the work of the various
charitable organizations in these cities. The same condi-
tions are found wherever inquiries are made. Even in the
cities where there are the largest Greek colonies, applica-
tions for relief from people of this race are almost un-
known.

Turning to the national aspect of this question we find
the evidence the same. The publication of the Census
Bureau on Paupers in Almshouses includes Greeks in the
category ^^Other Nationalities," so that no information
for our purposes can be secured from this volume.
Through the courtesy of the officials of the Census
Bureau, however, the complete set of the original schedules

198

GREEK IMMIGRATION

on which this report is based, were placed at my disposal.
The figures given are for paupers in almshouses on Decern*
her 81, 1908, when according to our estimate (see page
111) there were about 85,000 Greeks in the country. On
examination of these schedules it very soon became evi-
dent that it was a waste of time to look over the reports
for states where the Greek population was small. But a
careful examination was made of the reports of a number
of states, particularly those in which the great part of
the Greek population was known to be gathered. The
results of this inquiry are as follows :

Nttmber of
State Greek Panpers

Alabama None

Arisona None

Aricansas None

California 8

lUinoifl None

Colorado None

Connecticut None

Delaware None

Massadinsetts 9

Missonri None

New York 1

The report of the Commissioner-Greneral of Immigration
for the year 1905 (pages 60-62) gives a series of tables
showing the nationality of aliens detained in the penal,
reformatory and charitable institutions of the United
States. The total number of inmates was 44,986, of
whom 108, or 0.2 per cent were Greeks. Of the Greeks
twenty-one were in institutions for the insane, and forty-
four in penal institutions. As according to our estimate
there were in 1905 about 67,000 Greeks in the United
States, this is a very creditable showing.

194

SOCIAL CONDITIONS

In discussing the question of dependence, however, it is
essential to bear in mind the sex and age distribution of
the immigrants. This has been considered on pages 118
and lis, where it was remarked that about 96 per cent
of the Greek immigrants are males, and that nearly 90
per cent are between the ages of fourteen and forty-five.
Add to this the fact that most of the remaining 10
per cent are boys under fourteen, brought over to do
some form of productive labor, and it becomes evident
that the body of Greek immigrants is an army of workers
in the prime of life, with all the patently incapable indi-
viduals weeded out by the severe selective processes of the
immigration regulations. In such a body we should
hardly expect to find a large proportion of dependents.
Another circumstance tending to produce the same result
is found in the fact that the great bulk of Greek immi-
grants have been in this country less than five years.
They have not had time to exhaust their youthful strength
and energy, or to fall, in any large numbers, into disease
or other misfortune. It is a well-known fact that the
foreign-bom paupers in this country are almost wholly
individuals who have been here a number of years. Of
the foreign-bom paupers in the United States in 1900
whose length of residence in the country was known, 96
per cent had been here ten years or more.* In fact, this
point is so fundamental that Mr. William S. Rossiter, the
chief clerk of the Census Bureau, in discussing the favor-
able showing made by the Greeks in this respect, expressed
the opinion that statistics in regard to the dependence of
so recently inunigrating a group of aliens as the Greeks

*Ceii8iis PnbllcatloiiSy Panpers in Almshouses, page 101.

106

GREEK IMMIGRATION

were of practically no significance. That this is over-
stating the case is shown by the fact that in a recent year
7 per cent of the Jewish immigrants to the entire United
States applied for relief at the office of the United Hebrew
Charities within a few months after their arrival. Yet
there is no doubt that length of residence is of vital im-
portance in determining the liability of aliens to fall into
dependence in this country. In this connection it is in-
structive to examine the individual records of the eleven
Greek paupers who are reported in the census schedules.
Eight of these eleven paupers were in California insti-
tutions. Here is a brief abstract of their record:

C. S.^ age 62, years in U. S. SO, fisherman^ crippled, bed-
ridden, paralytic.

J. M., age 57, years in U. S. 10, fisherman, blind, bedridden,
rheumatic.

G. D., age 74, years in U. S. 5S, miner, able-bodied.

S. J., age 75, years in U. S. 4>4>, sailor and odd- jobber, old
and infirm, paralytic.

C. D. B., age 7S, years in U. S. 48, sailor and miner,
crippled, old and infirm, rheumatic.

A. M., age 64, years in U. S. 27, fisherman, incapacitated
for labor.

A. G., age 65, years in U. S. 7, fisherman, feeble-minded,
crippled, bedridden.

G. M., age 66, years in U. S. 80, laborer, crippled, old and
infirm.

The two Greek paupers in Massachusetts were in the
State Hospital at Tewksbury . Following is their record :

P. L., age 28, years in U. S. 1, laborer, crippled, maimed or
deformed.

N. R., age 40, years in U. S. 2, laborer, rhemnatic.

196

SOCIAL CONDITIONS

The one pauper in New York was an able-bodied youth
of seventeen, a confectioner, who had been in the United
States two years.

This is too small a body of data from which to draw
any definite conclusions with safety. But as far as the
evidence of these records goes, it all leads us to expect that
when the Greeks have been in this country a generation or
so, there will be a much larger proportion of them de-
pendent upon public charity. Another striking fact about
these paupers is that they were all males. This might be
expected when we consider how large a proportion of the
Greek population of this country is made up of males, but
it suggests that if the time ever comes when the Greeks
begin to emigrate by families so that a man must support
a wife and several children in addition to himself, there
will probably be an increase in the dependence of this
race. An interesting bit of contributory evidence is fur-
nished by the cases of the Irish and Germans, both of
which races are popularly considered superior to the
**newer immigrants," but both of which have been in the
United States much longer than the Greeks, Italians,
Slavs, etc. The report on Paupers in Almshouses,
already referred to, gives (Table 7) a total of S2,1S6
foreign-bom paupers in the almshouses of the United
States. Of these 7,477 were of Grerman origin, and 14,92S
were Irish. Anyone looking over the census schedules is
forcibly struck by the continual recurrence of names be-
longing to ;these two nationalities. These facts admit of
two interpretations: first, that perhaps these races are
not so much superior, at least in a financial way, to the
southern races as we are inclined to think; second, that
their much longer average period of residence has largely

197

GREEK IMMIGRATION

increased their liability to dependence. There is probably
a good deal of truth in both these explanations, but the
latter is much the more important. To what extent the
Greeks will follow in the footsteps of the older immigrants
in the matter of dependence during the next thirty or
forty years can only be conjectured. Whether they will
have the ability, foresight and determination to lay up, in
the years of prosperity, sufficient property to maintain
themselves and their famiUes during the period of old
age which is bound to come, or the temporary exigencies
of sickness and misfortune, is something which time alone
can tell. It seems probable that the great majority of
them will, unless the money sent home is allowed to cut
too heavily into their savings.

For the present, at any rate, we can say that the Greeks
in America are distinctly a self-supporting race. This is
due in part to the conditions of age, sex and length of
residence which we have just been considering, in part to
their business ability and thrift, and in part to their in-
born scorn of public assistance. Unfortunately it is also
due in part to the extremely abstemious habits of life of a
large proportion of them. The living conditions of the
Greeks have been briefly considered in the cases of Chicago,
New York and Lincoln, and described in detail in the case
of Lowell. These cities may be taken as typical in this
respect, as they are in others, of the other Greek colonies
in the United States. The almost entire absence of family
life among the Greeks in this country has already been
commented on. There are less than five per cent Greek
women in this country, and while a few of the men have
married American women, their number is inconsiderable.
The habitual custom of life for people of this race is for a

108

SOCIAL CONDITIONS

group of men — ^four, five, six or more — ^to hire a room or
a suite of rooms and use them as their common apartments.
Part of the meals are frequently cooked in these rooms,
and the rest — often aU — of the food is secured outside at
restaurants. Coming from the outdoor, village life of
Greece these men have no understanding of the funda-
mental rules of hygiene, and either do not know how, or do
not care, to keep their rooms in decent condition. There
is very little ventilation either by day or by night. The
food is often meager and lacking in nourishment. As a
result of these conditions there is a great deal of disease,
particularly tuberculosis, among the Greeks. It is a very
common thing to meet in Greece men who have been in
America a few years and have had to return on account of
ill health. These living conditions in America are well
understood in Greece, and deter some from coming. In
many cases, however, America gets more blame than it
deserves. Tuberculosis is becoming a very serious disease
in Greece, and many of the men who return from the
United States in a tubercular condition, already had the
disease, or a tendency towards it, when they left their
native villages.

These conditions are, of course, found at their worst in
the crowded sections of the large cities, particularly in
the factory colonies. As the Greeks become Americanized,
or scatter out into the smaller places, their living condi-
tions improve. One of the Orthodox priests received me
in a home which was as neat and attractive as could be
desired. The life of the laborers on the railroads of the
West is decidedly preferable to, and more hygienic than,
that of the city dwellers. On the whole, it is safe to say
that in the matter of living conditions the Greeks are

199

GREEK IMMIGRATION

more cleanly and in general more respectable than the
Italians.

In endeavoring to ascertain the criminal record of the
Greeks from a national point of view I had similar advan-
tages to those which were accorded me in the investigation
of pauperism ; the original census schedules for penal in-
stitutions were put at my disposal* The four states, Cali-
fornia, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York were chosen
for examination as they contain the bulk of the Greek
population. The figures are for the admissions to the
various penal institutions for the year ending December
81, 1904, when, according to our estimate, the total Greek
population of the United States was about 45,500. Dur-
ing that year there were two Greeks admitted to the
penal institutions of Cahfomia, one for infamous felony,
sentence four years ; one for counterfeiting, sentence one
year. Three Greeks were admitted to the Illinois insti-
tutions. One of these was for manslaughter, sentence in-
determinate; the second for receiving stolen property,
sentence sixty days; the third for mayhem, sentence six
months. The Massachusetts institutions received only one
Greek, charge, indecent exposure, sentence two years. The
New York institutions received thirteen Greeks during the
year in question, with charges as follows: Assault, six
months; false citizenship papers, thirty days; vagrancy,
six months; two cases counterfeit money, one month and
$100 each; disorderly conduct, one month; liquor law,
twenty days; canying weapons, four cases, two days
each ; petit larceny, thirty-six days ; violation penal code,
six months.

This makes a total of nineteen admissions to the penal
institutions of these four states, in which in the year in

SOCIAL CONDITIONS

qaeddon there were, according to the Thennopyl« Ahna-
nac, S9,796 Greeks altogether. This is a very insignifi-
cant number of criminals, and it should be noted further
that the majority of the offenses were of a minor nature.
The report of the Commissioner-General of Immigration
for 1905 in the tables already referred to (see page 194)
records forty-four Greek criminals in the penal institutions
of the United States, of whom nineteen were committed
for grave offenses and twenty-five for minor offenses. It
thus becomes plain that grave offenses, leading to peni-
tentiary sentences and other heavy punishments, are rare
among the Greeks. We have already seen from the ex-
amples of Chicago, Lowell and New York that minor
offenses are extremely common. The evidence from New
Haven is the same. Out of a very small Greek population
in this city there were fifteen arrests between January 1,
1907, and October 81, 1908, but the heaviest punishment
in any case was a fine of $10 and costs.

The police records of Boston furnish a very interesting
commentary on the nature of Greek criminality. The
following table gives the number of arrests of Greeks in
that city for the years 1902-1907 inclusive:

Year 1909 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907

Arrests 987 SIS 384 348 SSO 978

As the number of arrests remained nearly constant
while the total Greek population of the city was increasing
from a few hundred to 2,000 or more, there is evidence of a
decided decrease in criminal tendencies among these people.
This corresponds with what we have found to be true in
the other cities which we have examined. A further evi-
dence, along with a suggested explanation, is furnished by

SOI

GREEK IMMIGRATION

Mr. Buflhee in his work on the ^Ethnic Factors in the
Population of Boston." On page 98 he gives a table
showing the average percentage of arrests to the total
population of each nationality for the years 1894, 1895
and 1896. This is reproduced here for purposes of
comparison.

Percent.

City (total) 8.9

Portugal 3.7

Germany 4.9

Russia ^'^ I A fl

Poland 7S\

United States 7.1

British America .8.1

France 11.6

England 11.8

Sweden 11.8

Italy 19.1

Scotland 14.0

Ireland 16Ji

Norway 90.1

China 65.1

Greece ^^9Ji

The total Greek population at this time was about 107.
Mr. Bushee goes on to say (page lOS) :

"On the average every Greek in the city is arrested

over three times in a year Neither nationality

(Greeks or Chinese) is made up of such abandoned
criminals as the figures would seem to indicate, as the
criminal records of both cease almost entirely at the police
courts. The explanation is simple : the Greeks are nearly
all peddlers, and many among them take the risk of
peddling without a license, with the result that a wholesale
arrest of peddlers takes place until all have obtained their

202

SOCIAL CONDITIONS

licenses. In the case of the Chinese the explanation is to

be found in their love of gambling The Italians

are responsible for a larger amount of serious crime than
any other nationality excepting the negroes."

In regard to the Greeks in this country we may say in
general that while they very seldom commit serious
crimes, they appear to have no particular respect for law
as such, and the number of minor offenses committed by
people of this race is probably greater, in proportion to
their total population, than that of any other foreign
nationality in the country, and very much greater than
that of the native-bom. As we consider the nature of
these offenses, and the marked decrease in criminality
among the Greeks which the statistics uniformly indicate,
we are led to the conclusion that crime among the Greeks
is largely a matter of economic position. When the
immigrant first comes to this country his one thought is
to save money. He enters some trade which brings him
into conflict with the city ordinances. Perhaps he is a
push-cart man and takes the chance that the fines that
he may have to pay for selling without a license will not,
in a year, amount to so much in the aggregate as the
original cost of a license. Or he may J^ a mere peddler
of flowers or other goods and. be arrested for making a
stand in the street. Or again his offense may be for
violation of the sanitary code in the care of the miserable
room which he has chosen to live in. As he progresses
financially, and becomes established in a permanent busi-
ness, and improves his quarters, these temptations dis-
appear, and his face is no longer seen in the police court.
To be sure, there is a host of newcomers every year to
take the place of those who have moved up, but the general

206

GREEK IMMIGRATION

average length of residence of the Greeks in the United
States is increasing year by year, and with it the average
of business prosperity is also increasing. There is reason
to hope that with the passage of the years the criminal
record of the Greeks will come to compare more favorably
with that of our other foreign populations.

A class of offenses which perhaps ranks second among
the Greeks to violations of the corporation ordinances,
and in some cases is included under corporation ordi-
nances, is that designated as disorderly conduct. In this
case, too, an extenuating circumstance is found in the
extreme natural excitability of the Greeks. A noisy
altercation which disturbs a whole block, and seems to the
police officer to threaten a fatal culmination, may be the
friendliest kind of an argument. The police officer of
course cannot get at the true nature of the case and the
whole lot are taken off to the police station. As the
Greeks become more Americanized this class of offense
may also diminish.

Juvenile deUnquency is very rare among the Greeks, as
might be expected from the fact that the number of chil*
dren among them is very small and that most of these are
employed all day||^d part of the night under strict super-
vision. In the census schedules for institutions for delin-
quent children in the states of California, Illinois, Massa-
chusetts and New York, taken December SI, 1904, there
appear the names of only two Greek children, one a boy
of eighteen who had been in this country seven years,
arrested for burglary, the other a lad of fourteen, in this
country four years, arrested as a disorderly child. Gren-
erally speaking, juvenile delinquents among the foreign-
born are a minor element. On the other hand, there are

904

SOCIAL CONDITIONS

a very large number of this class of offenders among the
native-born of foreign parents. This fact should give
us food for thought, when we reflect on how enormous this
class of our population is becoming.

The statistics of pauperism, crime, etc., for Greeks are
given a slight element of uncertainty, or inaccuracy, by
the difficulty of determining certainly the race of many
of the offenders. Ordinarily, the reports give the nativity,
not the race, of the individuals concerned, and as many
of our Greek immigrants are bom in Turkey and in other
countries outside of Greece, it is not always possible to
determine the race of a small number of those concerned.
Foreigners will frequently prevaricate in regard to their
race, for purposes of their own. In the midst of the
Italian colony of Jersey City and in Inwood, L. I., there
are colonies of people who call themselves, and are called
by their neighbors, "Greeks," though they come from
Central Italy, and are apparently of Albanian origin.
But these uncertainties are in no case probably of suffi-
cient weight to affect our general conclusions, as the great
body of Greek immigrants still come from Greece proper.

In respect to the vices of drinking and gambling the
Greeks maintain much the same character in this country
as in their home land. GambUng is very prevalent among
them and many of the arrests, which we have seen to be
so frequent, are connected with this practice. In the
matter of drink, their habits suffer a slight deterioration.
In the place of the light wines of their native land, some
of them substitute beer, and occasionally whiskey. But
for the most part, Greeks in this country exercise an
admirable degree of control in the use of intoxicants, and
intemperance is far from being a prevalent evil among

205

GREEK IMMIGRATION

them. The coffee-house fills the place of the saloon as a
social center, and coffee prepared in the Turkish style is
still the favorite beverage of the Greeks. Tobacco is
used very generally in this country, as in the home land.

When we turn to sexual immorality, however, it appears
that the effect of American life upon the immigrants is
injurious, rather than the reverse. This is in part due,
no doubt, to the fact that the Greek colonies are largely
composed of young men, freed from the restraints of
family ties and the surroundings of home, where the close
watch kept upon the women prevents active immorality
to a large extent. Through the scarcity of women of
their own race these young men in America are prevented
from contracting marriages in a normal way. Further-
more, the liberty of American life in regard to the rela-
tions of young people is construed by the Greeks as
license. The innocent, friendly comradeship of young
people of opposite sexes is something so foreign to their
experience that they do not understand it. The keeper
of a hotel in Tripolis, commenting on the undesirable
conditions in America, included among them the freedom
with which young boys and girls were allowed by their
parents to go out together. Unfortunately, the women
with whom the average Greek in this country has the
opportunity to become familiarly acquainted, are not
usually such as to raise his standard of morality or his
opinion of womankind. It goes without saying that
those Greeks whose circumstances throw them into contact
with the better classes of American society are profited
thereby.

As was remarked in the discussion of the aspect of this
matter in Greece, it is almost impossible to get data which

306

SOCIAL CONDITIONS

will furnish absolute proof of the state of affairs. It
mast be said, however, that indications point to the con-
clusion that the sex morality of the Greeks in this country
stands in need of much improvement. Among these indi-
cations the two following may be cited. In many of the
coffee-houses of the Madison Street settlement in New
York there are openly displayed advertisements of a
Greek clinic, claiming explicitly to cure the most virulent
of venereal diseases. Out of 1,887 square inches of adver-
tising space in two ordinary issues of the Atlantis (see
Table 16), ninety-three square inches, or about one
fourteenth, were devoted wholly or in part to the cure of
private diseases. The physical condition of a large
number of the young men returning from this country
to Athens and Patras is said to be deplorable in the
extreme.

As we have already seen in so many instances, the old
factiousness still asserts itself in this country in affairs
between Greeks, and sadly interferes with the harmony
which the wide interests of the race in this country
demand. There must, however, be a marked improve-
ment in the matter of commercial honesty, for no people
could continue doing business in America so successfully
as do the Greeks, and keep up the underhanded practices
which characterize commercial o{)erations in their native
land. On the whole, the Greeks are more industrious and
painstaking in this country than at home.

Aside from their commercial enterprises the Greeks as
yet have not entered largely into the social organization
of this country. As already remarked the number of
Greek men who have married American women is insignifi-
cant. Greeks do not enter to any extent into the activi-

807

GREEK IMMIGRATION

ties of the social settlements in our cities, and onlj
slightly into the work of the Young Men's Christian Asso-
ciation. In religion, they keep themsdves almost wholly
separate. As soon as a Greek colony reaches 400 or 500
in number it sets about making arrangements for an
Orthodox church. A building is rented or built and a
priest secured from the home land. There are at present
about thirty-six of these churches in the United States,
located as follows: Atlanta, Ga. ; Baltimore, Md. ; Bir-
mingham, Ala. ; Boston, Mass. ; Buffalo, N. Y. ; Chicago,
HI. ; Cincinnati, Ohio ; Detroit, Mich. ; Galreston, Texas ;
Haverhill, Mass.; Indianapolis, Ind. ; Los Angeles, Cal. ;
Lowell, Mass.; Lynn, Mass.; Manchester, N. H. ; Mil-
waukee, Wis.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Nashua, N. H. ;
Newark, N. J.; New York, N. Y. (two); Omaha, Neb.;
Philadelphia, Pa. ; Pittsburg, Pa. ; Portland, Ore. ; Provi-
dence, R. I. ; Pueblo, Colo.; St. Louis, Mo.; Salt Lake
City, Utah ; San Francisco, Cal. ; Savannah, Ga. ; Seattle,
Wash.; Sheboygan, Wis.; Springfield, Mass.; Washing-
ton, D. C* About fifteen of these own their buildings.

The priests are supported by the contributions of the
congregations and receive from $60 to $100 per month
salary, and various perquisites which sometimes amount
to more than the salary. The decorations and fittings of
these churches are made to resemble as closely as possible
those of the churches at home, and as a rule the priests
keep up the old habit of wearing the hair and beard long,
and dress in the orthodox style. OccasionaUy a priest,
or a part of a congregation, becomes progressive and
liberal, and then there is trouble. Many of the bitterest
dissensions which mar the life of the Greeks in this country

* Greek-American Guide, 1009.

208

SOCIAL CONDITIONS

arise over religious matters.* Protestant Greeks in the
United States are a negligible quantity.

Along with his church the Greek demands his news-
paper. It is doubtful if there is another foreign nation-
ality in the United States that publishes so many news-
papers in its own language, in proportion to its total pop-
ulation, as the Greeks. There are at present about six-
teen of these newspapers, two daily and the rest for the
most part weekly, published as follows: New York, four,
Boston, two, Lowell, one, Pittsburg, one, Chicago, four,
San Francisco, two, Salt Lake City, one, Lynn, one.
There is also a commercial review and a monthly magazine
published in New York.t

Outside of the coffee-house the Greek has few amuse-/
xnents. The customary recreation centers are little pat-
ronized by him, and athletics receive slight attention.

No large proportion of the Greeks have as yet become
citizens of the United States. One prominent Greek said
that possibly one fourth of the total number were natural-
ized citizens, but this is probably an over-estimate. There
are said to be about S,000 naturalized citizens in New
York City, 284 in Lowell, and from 100 to SOO in Boston.
Almost all of them adhere to the Republican party,
believing that its policies are most favorable to the com-
mercial advancement of the nation. Socialism finds no
followers among the people of this race in the United
States, though it is beginning to get a slight foothold in
Greece. Greeks are apparently not inclined to join trade
unions, partly because there are comparatively few of
them who are laborers in unionized trades, partly because

*See the WssIOy New9 and Cowrier, C!harle8toii» S. C^ Jvly 11, 1908.
t Greek-AmeTican Guide, 1909.

209

GREEK IMMIGRATION

they prefer their own organizations, and partly because
they are not wanted by the unions.

The slight interest of the Greeks in political affairs in
this country is rather surprising when it is compared with
the keen interest taken in such matters in Greece. It was
explained by a well-informed Greek in this country, on the
ground that the Greek came to this country imbued with
the idea that too much politics was one of the causes of
the difficulties of his own land. More than this, the
Greek has a profound respect for ilie ability of the Ameri-
can citizen, and regards him as much more capable of
running the country wisely than he himself is. Aside
from the inclinations of the Greeks, one patent reason
why there are so few naturalized citizens among them, is
that the majority of them hare not been in the country
long enough to become citizens. The rery general inten-
tion to return eventually to their native land probably
has much to do with it also. (See page Sll.) The
Greek is very proud of his native citizenship and is not
anxious to give it up.

For many years it has been the practice of Greeks
living in Turkey to come to the United States with the
express purpose of taking out citizenship papers and
returning to their old home, there to carry on business
under the greater protection which their American citizen-
ship gave them. I knew personally of one young man of
a wealthy family who came to this country and entered
one of our leading scientific schools. He frankly admitted
that his main object was to secure American citizenship,
and the advantages which it would bring him in the man-
agement of his estate. Another instance which was
brought to my notice was that of a young man from one

210

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,/■

• •.

• • •

• •• •

• • •

SOCIAL CONDITIONS

of the islands, to whom a business opportunity presented
itself in Turkey. He came to this country and worked
as a servant in a prirate family and in a club, with the
avowed purpose of securing citizenship, so that he could
take up this opportunity under better conditions. An
effective check to this practice was put by the provisions
of the Act of March 8, 1907, which stipulate that any
naturalized citizen who resides in the country from which
he came for two years, or in any other foreign country
for five years, thereby forfeits his citizenship.

A few years ago it could be said with truth that prac-
tically every Greek who came to the United States had the
intention of returning after five or ten years to his native
land. They came in order to earn and save enough
money so that they could go back home, and either estab-
lish themselves in some easy business, or else, if they were
especially fortunate, settle down to a life of indolence and /
ease. But this is changed now. The Greeks who went '
home after a few years' residence in the United States
were not content. Having tasted the keen life of this
country, they could not be satisfied elsewhere. So the
majority returned to America again, this time with the
intention of settling down permanently. Their example,
along with the increased knowledge of American conditions
in Greece, inspired many of their fellow countrymen to
look to America as the place where they wished to cast
their lot permanently. Today, a very large proportion
of the Greek immigrants to America, those who cross the
ocean for the first time as well as those who have been
here before, come with the idea of making this their home
as long as life shall last. Instead of speaking of their
native land with proud patriotism, they all too often char-

211

GREEK IMMIGRATION

acterize it as a poor and miserable place, and many a
profane Americanism is ostentatiously displayed to show
the scorn they fed for it.

As we have seen, a small number of Greeks hare attained
a position of eminence in the financial life of this country.
Very few, however, have achieved any wide influence in
the realm of literature, the arts, or the learned professions.
Probably the most illustrious Greek citizen this country
has ever known was Mr. Michael Anagnostopoulos, or
Anagnos as he was commonly known. He was for many
years director of the Perkins Institution for the Blind in
Boston, and it was under his supervision that Helen Keller
was educated. He died about three years ago in Europe.

dl2

PART in

EFFECTS OF IMMIGRATION

. • >

CHAPTER X

Effects on the Immigrants

THE discussion of the effects of Greek immigration
falls of its own accord into three parts — the effect
on the immigrants, the effect on the land from which they
come» and the effect on the land to which they go. The
consideration of the first of these can be little more than
a summary of much that has gone before. We have
already followed the immigrant into his business, into his
home, into his social and religious life, and have seen how
he fared in all these departments of his life. All that we
can do now is to gather together our conclusions in a few
words.

Financially, practically every Greek finds his life in
America an improvement over the one he left. He earns
more money and is able to save more. He has much
greater opportunities of establishing himself in a perma-
nent and lucrative business. Many Greeks who would
never have escaped from the hoe or the shepherd's crook
in Greece, become prosperous business men in America.
A few save enough in a few years to assure them a com-
fortable living and a position of influence and respect if
they return to their native land, as a small number do.
The nimiber who fail to make a living in the new country
is exceedingly small.

As far as the actual comforts of life are concerned, how-
ever, the situation of a large body of the Greeks in this
country is decidedly inferior to that from which they come.
Instead of the clear, pure, invigorating atmosphere of
their native hills, they breathe the vitiated air of a store,

dl5

GREEK IMMIGRATION

shop or factory. Instead of a day of leisurely and inter-
mittent toil, with an hour or two of siesta after the noon
lunch, there is a long stretch of eight, ten, or, in the case
of the bootblacks, fourteen or fifteen hours of steady labor.
\ The food in the new home is perhaps more rgned, but in
many cases it is not so fresh nor so well suited touie Greek
palate, as that to which the inmiigrant was accustomed at
home. The living and sleeping rooms in the old home
were bare and perhaps dirt-floored, but they were at least
clean and well cared for, whereas the new quarters are
unkempt and filthy. The social relaxation of the coffee-
house is still available, but it lacks the picturesque out-
door features that add so much of charm in the old coun-
try. Very many Greeks have separated themselves from
wives and children. Either they lack the means to bring
them over, or they are unwilling to call them to this coun-
try until they can assure them a well-appointed and com-
fortable home. In any case they do not even see them
for five or ten years, and are deprived of all the comforts
and pleasures of family life. The unmarried young men
do not have the opportunity to meet girls of their own
race, or in most cases, worthy women of other races, and
so are denied the opportunity of securing wives.

As a result of these conditions the health of the Greeks
in many cases suffers a decline. This may be due either
to undesirable food and living conditions, to the un-
hygienic conditions of their daily toil, to change of
climate, or to vicious practices. In many cases the morals
also suffer, on account of the unwonted freedom of Ameri-
can life, and the customary use in this country of strong
intoxicants in the place of light wines. Religious observ-
ances are as a rule weU kept up, and any relaxation in the

dl6

EFFECTS ON THE IMMIGRANTS

direction of greater freedom is just as likely to be for the
better as for the worse.

To the question that naturally arises. If all this be so,
why do the Greeks continue to come and stay in»^uch^reat
numbers? the one great answer is, Money. Money making
is a ruling passion among the Greeks, and the opportu-
nities of gratifying it are much greater in the United
States than in Greece. There is scarcely a Greek in the
• United States who does not earn more money than he did,
or could reasonably hope to, in Greece. The unfortunate
conditions which we have been discussing are not due to
lack of money, so much as to the extreme privations which
a Greek is willing to undergo in order to send money home
for the purpose of buying land, building a house for his
parent?, providing dowries for his daughters or sisters,
putting up a bell tower on the village church, or paying
off the debts of himself or his family. The gratification
that comes from so doing outweighs a multitude of hard-
ships. A minor reason for the willingness of Greeks to
enjoy fewer comforts in this country than in the home
land is that the rushing, varied, active life of the United
States is peculiarly attractive to the Greek spirit. As
some one said, ^^As soon as they hear that there are trolley
cars over here, they all come." In the districts in Greece
from which emigration has taken place for a number of
years, the evil conditions of the Greeks in the United
States are very weU understood, and undoubtedly deter
many from coming. But in the mind of the average
peasant the stream of gold, which he can see so plainly,
outweighs the disadvantages which he has only heard of,
and each one hopes that he will be one of the ones who win
success in the new home.

217

GREEK IMMIGRATION

It hardly need be said that these unfortunate conditions
are by no means universal among the Greeks in this coun-
try. They exist most fully in the consolidated Greek
colonies, where the dwellers have little opportunity of
coming into any social relations, or even business rela-
tions, with American people. How complete is this isola-
tion may be inferred from the fact that, though the
Greeks are supposed to be quick at languages, it is the
exception to find a Greek who hasjbeen in the United
States five or even ten years who can speak English even
tolerably well. The Greeks who prosper most, financially,
socially, morally, and intellectually-^those to whom the
change of residence is a real advantage — are those whose'
circumstances lead them away from the settlement, and
throw them into contact with the better classes of Ameri-
can citizens. And there is a goodly number of these.

It is to be hoped that as Greeks more and more come
here with the intention of remaining permanently, and
those that are here give up their idea of returning, there
will be an increase of family immigration, which will alle-
viate many of the evils that now exist.

In regard to the general prosperity of the Greeks in
this country the Greek- American Guide for 1909 contains
the following pessimistic and somewhat exaggerated
paragraph:*

**What Do the EiaoRAKTs Gain? Do the Greek emi-
grants in America gain anything? How much do they
gain, and how? We think that in regard to both of these
questions their compatriots in Greece and elsewhere have

* Page 38. The word ''gain" as used in this paragraph should be
taken in the sense of earning or getting, rather than that of securing
an advantage.

218

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• •

t •,

• •

► •• •

• • •

EFFECTS ON THE IMMIGRANTS

a decidedly mistaken idea. Of course there are, as we
have said above, a number of the older emigrants, who
after many years of toil and labor have established and
maintained certain profitable businesses or enterprises and
now make a comfortable living, although not as much as
they seem to in Greece. But these are few, and the whole
must not be judged by a small part. The newer emi-
grants, with a few exceptions, gain nothing at all, or at
least gain very little, and that by the strictest economy
and excessive labor." (Translated.)

219

CHAPTER XI

Effects on Gseece

EARLY in the twentieth century when emigration from
Greece to America began to assume considerable
proportions it aroused universal consternation in the
minds of the Greek authorities. The country was
alarmed as it saw its working force drawn off to serve
the needs of a foreign land, and the government began to
consider measures to check the movement. As the years
went by, however, and the stream of remittances began to
flow in, opinion gradually changed, and people began to
feel that, as long as the money was spent in Greece, it did
not much matter where it was earned. This state of mind
has generally continued down to the present time, and
even the intelligent members of the Greek populace regard
the depopulation of their country with an amazing degree
of complacency. Within the last two or three years,
however, especially since the crisis in America cut down
the remittances, there has grown up a party of opposition
which controls a large part of the Greek press. Even so
late as the winter of 1908-09 the newspapers of Athens
contained frequent paragraphs such as the following: *

"THE CRISIS IN CHICAGO

120,000 Unbmplotsd

" According to recent statistics there are in Chicago about
120,000 laborers miemplojed. Of these 6,000 are drivers,
8,000 carpenters, 25,000 bricklayers, 7^000 iron workers,
12,000 waiters in restaurants and hotels, 8,000 mechanics and

* Translated from the '^Kairoi," Athens, Jannaiy 8^ 1909.

290

EFFECTS ON GREECE

firemen^ 50,000 to 60,000 unskilled laborers ; 50,000 of these un-
employed laborers have families and their wives and children
suffer with them.

" The economic crisis of the working classes, on account of
these conditions, has reached the extreme limit."

American officials in Greece express the opinion that
there is government influence back of these utterances.
In fact, late in the fall of 1907, the Ministry of Internal
Affairs issued a circular to the provincial authorities call-
ing attention to the depressed state of affairs in America,
and ordering them to use every means to check the current
of emigration. The crisis was generally exaggerated in
Greece, and it was said that America had *^gone bank-
rupt."

The effects of emigration upon Greece are in the main
connected with two phenomena — ^the influx of money from
America, and the withdrawal of the laboring force from
the country. In regard to the former of these, it may
at first seem surprising to an American that the small
sum which, as we have seen, covers the amount of the
annual remittances (see page 191), should exercise such
a profound influence on the economic situation in Greece.
But a moment's consideration will make this plain.
Suppose we set the figure for the average annual amount
of money sent from the United States to Greece at
$5,000,000. The general imports into Greece in 1905
amounted to $27,170,639, and the exports to $16,096,184.
In 1906 the imports were $27,800,868 and the exports
$22,788,161. It thus appears that the amount of money
flowing into Greece each year, without any corresponding
outgo, is in the neighborhood of one quarter of the tota
amount which the country receives for its exports, and is

821

GREEK IMMIGRATION

enough to pay for nearly one fifth of its imports. This
makes it plain why the money from America exercises so
great an influence on the progress of affairs in Greece.

The effects of this inflow of money have been already
touched upon in our preliminary survey of the economic
conditions in Greece. (See Chapter IV.) Perhaps the
foremost among them is the remarkable fall in exchange.
This has had the undesirable effect of temporarily increas-
ing to a large extent the cost of living for the average
citizen of Greece, but if it ultimately results in putting
the currency of the country on a sound basis, it will serve
a very useful purpose. Another beneficial result which
has followed this inflow of money has been the paying off
of a large number of real estate mortgages. The Secre-
tary of the Interior told me that large sections of Greece
had been wholly freed from incumbrances through this
agency. The rate of interest has also fallen decidedly,
until now, in some sections, private individuals lend money
at lower rates than the banks.

Turning now to the injurious results of American
money in Greece, we note first of all that it has had, and
has, a very demoralizing effect upon the industry of the
country. The Greek loves both the appearance and the
fact of leisure, and is all too ready at best to give up
labor and spend his days in the coffee-houses and on the
promenades, smoking and talking politics, as soon as the
opportunity to do so presents itself. The abundant sup-
plies of money which are coming into the country without
labor, encourage this tendency and help to make possible
its fulfillment. The Greeks who come back from America
wi£h their fortunes made increase this idle class and help
to inculcate the love of indolence in the youth of the land.

282

EFFECTS ON GREECE

These factors have contributed to that peculiar stagna-
tion, mentioned in the quotation on page 70. As a result,
Athens and the Piraeus are the only cities in the kingdom,
with the exception of Volo, which have grown appreciably
in recent years. The others have remained nearly, sta-
tionary, and Syra is said to have gone down sadly. If
this money were applied to the development of productive
industry, the results would be more favorable. But unfor-
tunately it is not. Aside from what is spent in freeing
the land, and paying debts, the majority of it is used in
furnishing dowries for the girls, in building fine houses^^'^^
in erecting bell towers and clocks on the churches and'
monasteries or putting up new church buildings, occa-
sionally in some public project like building a road, and
often in making possible a life of luxury as mentioned
above. The Greek newspapers in America like to under-
take a subscription for some public purpose. For in-
stance, the Atlantis is conducting a campaign among the
Greeks in America to raise money for the purchase of a
man-of-war for the Greek navy. The amount contributed
for this purpose up to April 20, 1909, was $30,500.44.

Probably the greatest injury wrought by American
money in Greece is in augmenting the fever for emigration.
In 1906 Mr. Horton wrote* in his annual report, ''It is
almost impossible to find a young man or boy in the vil-
lages or on the farms who does not live in hopes of getting
away to America as soon as possible." There is no factor
which contributes more powerfully to this result than the
constant stream of gold from America. The following
sentence, translated from the Greek-American Guide for
1909 (page 39), is taken from the paragraph on ''The
Causes of Emigration,'' and expresses the idea forcibly :

GREEK IMMIGRATION

(( n

^Such a one from such and such a village sent home so
many dollars within a year,' is heard in a certain village
or city, and the report, flashed from village to village and
from city to city and growing from mouth to mouth,
causes the farmer to desert his plow, the shepherd to sell
his sheep, the artisan to throw away his tools, the small
grocer to break up his store, the teacher to forsake his
rostrum, and all to set aside the passage money so that
they can take the first possible ship for America and
gather up the dollars in the streets before they are all
gone."

An examination of the statistics of population of
Greece reveals the extent to which the withdrawal of young
men has gone. Greece is one of the few countries of
Europe where the male population is considerably in excess
of the female. The following table shows the relation of
these two groups at the time of the last two censuses :

Census

Total Population

Males

Females

of Males

1896

9,443^06*

1,966,000

1,166,990

99,010

1907

9,631,958

l,394k»949

1,307,010

17,939

The first thing that attracts the attention on looking
at these figures is the small increase in the total popula-
tion, only 188,446 in eleven years as compared with an
increase of 266,298 in the seven-year period from 1889
(when the total population was 2,187,208) to 1896. The
next important fact is the decided decrease in the excess
of males, showing the sex from which the bulk of the emi-
grants have been recruited. We have already seen that
about 85 per cent of the Greeks in America are males
between the ages of fourteen and forty-five. This would

* The Blight discrepancy between the total and the sum of the two
Hems is characteristic of Gredc statistics.

224

EFFECTS ON GREECE

be about 127,500 individuals. Now in a normal popu-
lation in such a country as Greece about 400 out of 1,000
of the total population are in this age group.* That is
to say, that out of the 1,824,942 males in Greece in 1907,
about 529,776 should be between the ages of fourteen and
forty-five. Comparing this with the number in America,
and allowing for a slight increase in the population of
Greece between 1907 and 1909, we see that between one
fourth and one fifth of the working force of Greece are in
America. This is merely the roughest kind of an esti-
mate, but it will serve to show how deeply the population
of Greece has been affected by emigration. The surprising
thing is, that the results on the agriculture and industry
of Greece have not been more disastrous than they have.
As yet, the withdrawal of so large a body of the youn
men has not caused any appreciable decline in the culti-
vation of the soil. It is true that the currant industry is
in a depressed condition, but there are other causes for
this (see page 76), and while at present the removal of
the working class undoubtedly contributes to this re-
sult, it was originally a cause and not a result of
emigration. The explanation lies in the fact that the
women have taken hold of the work. The peasant women
of Greece are strong, sturdy, healthy and accustomed to
hard work, and they have gone into the fields and taken
up the hoe and the plow, and are carrjring on the agricul-
ture of the country, perhaps not quite so well as the men,
but well enough to save the crops from ruin. They have
also entered many other departments of manual labor.
Mr. Nathan saw girls of fourteen and fifteen breaking
stone by the roadside near Sparta, and I saw some not

* See Bailey, Modem Social Conditions, page 76.

226

GREEK IMMIGRATION

much older carrying mortar and stones for a new build-
ing in Megalopolis. In a large limestone quarry in the
environs of Athens, I saw a number of women engaged in
filling baskets with the broken rock and emptying the
heavy loads into carts. I asked one of them how much
she earned a day and she replied, *^One drachma.'' To
my next query as to the number of hours she worked per
day, her reply was, "From sunrise to sundown."

Recently, also, large numbers of Albanians and others
from the countries to the north have been brought in to
do the field labor, and in the vineyards around Patras one
frequently sees large gangs of these motley nationalities
working under the direction of a Greek boss. The
scarcity of laborers has produced a slight rise in wages
which, of course, benefits a small number of those who
remain.

m Within a year or two there has api>eared to be a spread
of the white slave traffic in Greece, and the large number
of girls who are left unmarried by the exodus of the young
men is held partly accountable for this unfortunate con-
dition. One rather amusing effect of emigration, bene-
ficial at least from the point of view of Greece, was men-
tioned to me by Mr. Nathan. On a recent trip to Sparta
he entered into conversation with the chief of police of
the district, and the officer remarked that since emigration
had been so large Sparta had changed from a very turbu-
lent locality to one of the quietest places imaginable. In
fact, he said that not only his own district, but Greece
in general, seemed to be pretty well rid of her more vicious
criminals.

One other effect which has alarmed the authorities to
a considerable extent is the marked decrease in the number

EFFECTS ON GREECE

of recruits for the army. This is something which comes
close to the heart of the nation, and it, probably more
than any other one factor, contributed to the appointment
by the legislative chamber of a committee to investigate
the whole matter of emigration, and recommend any
changes in the laws which seemed desirable. This com-
mittee reported on July 12, 1906. The report begins
with a statement of the difficulty of obtaining data on
which to base conclusions, owing to the inadequate manner
in which statistics of this kind are kept in Greece. Then
follows a review of emigration in general. The statistics
contain so many manifest inaccuracies as to be wholly un-
trustworthy, and the discussion is on the whole rather
puerile. An idea of its nature may be gained from the
fact that one of the principal grounds, on which is based
the estimate of the amount of money sent home from
America, is the lamentable fact that in 1906 in the space
of three months 120,000 francs in checks were stolen from
the mail in the district of Lacedemonia! Little is to be
gained for our purposes from the study of this part of
the report.

Twenty pages of the report are devoted to the text of
an emigration law proposed and recommended by the com-
mittee. Only a few sections of it are of especial interest
to us. Emigration is proclaimed to be free under the
prescribed limitations. The principal ones of these are
as follows: Males from the age of nineteen years to the
completion of the age of active military service are
required to secure permission from their nomarch before
leaving. Those belonging to the reserve force are free
to depart but must give notice in writing to the authori-
ties. Children under the age of sixteen, of both sexes, are

287

GREEK IMMIGRATION

forbidden to emigrate unless accompanied by their father,
or haying permission from their father or guardian.
Provisions are made to prevent the enslavement of boys,
or the deportation of girls for immoral purposes. Pro-
vision is also made for the protection of emigrants from
the devices of unscrupulous agents, and for their safety
and comfort on the voyage. This law was not passed and
since that time httle has been done toward regulating
emigration.

Perhaps there is no better way to gain a concise idea
of the effects of emigration upon Greece than to take a
brief trip to one or two of the districts from which emi-
gration has been the heaviest and of the longest duration.
Let us imagine that we are just starting out on such a
trip, and that we have chosen as our destination Tripolis
and the region round about. We leave Athens a little
before seven o'clock in the morning, and for the sake o^
the local color travel in the third class. In our com-
partment are a couple of men whose clothes have a dis-
tinctly American character. They recognize us at once
as Americans, and engage us in conversation in broken
English. When they learn that our destination is Trip-
olis they at once become interested and from that time on
take charge of us, offering to share their food with us, and
giving us many suggestions as to where to go and what to
do. One of them lives in Steno, a little village near Trip-
olis. He has been for nine years in Chicago, where he
had a fruit store. He has made his small fortune and is
coming back to Greece to spend the rest of his days with
his family, whom he has not seen since he left. The other
man has spent fifteen years in Chicago, where he stiU owns
a grocery store on the comer of Polk Street and Blue

228

•• ••

• • •

• ••

• •••

a • • • •

•••

EFFECTS ON GREECE

ad Avenue. He is now enjojing a life of repose and
ie in the capital. The train jogs along, following the
oast line closely, over a well-built road bed. We pass
through Eleusis, now a poor Albanian village, from which
very few have gone to America. A little later we go
through Megara, one of the largest cities in this part of
Greece, typically old-fashioned in the architecture of its
buildings, and the character of its people. Out of a popu*
lation of about 7,000 it is said to have sent 1,000 to
America. On both sides of the track there is a succession
of olive orchards, vineyards and rocky pastures where
flocks of sheep and goats are feeding. Soon we come to
the Isthmus and cross the Corinth Canal on an elevated
bridge. After a brief stop at Corinth we begin our incur-
sion into the Peloponnesus. The road climbs up through
wild but beautiful scenery. We soon begin to see signs of
emigration in the frequency with which women appear
working in the fields. The barren and precipitous moun-
tains all around us, and the immense windings which the
railroad makes in traversing them impress us forcibly
with the tremendous difficulties of communication in this
part of Greece. Ere long the. road begins to descend once
more and we find ourselves in the fertile plain of ArgoUs.
But our climbing is not done. The rest of the journey to
Tripolis, which we reach about the middle of the after-
noon, is one long ascent.

Tripolis, Ijring at the edge of a high, fertile table-land,
is an attractive, thriving city. The business and social
life of its people centers around the public square, on one
side of which stands a fine church, the other sides being
enclosed with arcades. In the streets which run out from
it the trades and businesses of the citizens are more or

229

GREEK IMMIGRATION

less centralized. One street is given up to iron-workers'
shops, another to dry goods stores, there is an open fruit
market, and a semi-open meat market. The streets are
for the most part narrow, and the houses, though built
of stone, are old-fashioned, but the city is well lighted with
electricity. The population of the city and the sur-
rounding villages is of a fine type. The men are hardy,
vigorous and active, and the women especially are sturdy
and well-built, with strong, handsome, square faces.

As we talk with the hotel keepers, the business men, the
carriage drivers, etc., we find that "America" is a house-
hold word, familiar to every tongue. On every hand we
meet men who have been in America. The storekeepers
call out to us, "Come on, boy," and as we sit in the hotel
office in the evening we have numerous callers. One is a
baker in Springfield, Mass., one has several sons in Ogden,
Utah, and one young man, whose fine face and pleasant
bearing testify to a beneficial experience, says he has left
a job in a mill in Pittsburg to come home and serve in the
army. Economic conditions in America, and particu-
larly the situation of the Greeks, are well understood by
these men. They talk intelligently of the crisis in the
United States — and well they may, for on the outskirts
of the city stand the foundations of a fine large church,
upon which work has had to be stopped until the remit-
tances from America begin to come in again.

But to see the efi^ects of emigration at their best we
must take one or two small trips out into the neighboring
villages. On one of these excursions we stroll through the
villages of Tegea, Achouria and Piali. Everywhere there
is a scarcity of men, especially young men. Occasionally
a grizzled old peasant will be seen watching a flock of

880

EFFECTS ON GREECE

sheep, or driving his donkey to mill. But the young men
are not to be seen. Everywhere there is the impression
of desertion. The houses are closed and the streets
vacant. In the fields women and young children are dig-
ging wild bulbs with heavy iron hoes, perhaps watching
some sheep or goats as they dig. These bulbs they will
sell to the restaurant keeper in the city for a trifling sum.
We approach one or two of these groups of women to
speak with them, but they flee from us like wild things.
Near the village we pass an unusually fine-looking house.
We accost the woman seated at the door, and she tells us
with pride that the house was built with money which her
sons have sent her from America.

From here we go on to Tsipiana, a compact little vil-
lage nestling in a valley between two towering, rocky
mountains. We enter the coffee-house for a moment of
rest, and are followed by a crowd of forty or fifty curious
observers. As we take in the composition of the group,
we realize that they are all old men and boys, with perhaps
a soldier and schoolmaster of middle age. We ask them
what is the population of the village, and one of them
replies, "Twenty-five hundred or three thousand, but seven
or eight hundred of them — all the young men — are in
America." Every boy has a brother or cousin in the far-
away land, where he himself intends and expects to go
just as soon as he gets old enough. They are a curious,
good-natured crowd, and follow us in our explorations of
the village, exhibiting shyly the text-books from which
they are learning English, and the watches and fountain
pens — ^neither of them in running order — ^which they have
received from America. They point with pride to the
$2,000 clock in the tower of the monastery on the hill,

281

GREEK IMMIGRATION

paid for with American money. If we get into conyer-
sation with any of the young women, which is difficult to
do, we must avoid the mention of sweethearts unless we
wish to tread on tender ground, for it is a standing joke
with a rather bitter flavor around here that there are no
men to marry the girls.

On our way to the coast we stop for a few hours at
Megalopolis, the great supply center for the bootblacks
of the Greek world, as well as for America. It is an un-
prepossessing little town, which has the misfortime to
possess the ruins of an old theater. This attracts
numbers of tourists, and the people of the town have as
a result lost the frank and courteous curiosity which was
so pleasing in Tsipiana, and have become covetous, im-
portunate, and impertinent. We can detect somewhat of
a difference between the appearance of this town and that
of those we have just left. Here the great dearth appears
to be in boys between the ages of ten and twenty. There
are plenty of small boys, many of them with their boot- «
black kits. There are ako men of middle age, sitting^dly
in front of the coffee-houses, doubtless supported by4lie
labors of hard-working little lads in Athens, Patras-or (
the United States. There are evidences of considerable ««.
prosperity in the town, for pretentious n^w biSISngs%fe
going up on every street and, as we are inibirnKTlney
are planning to put a marble curbing'^^arouiKflK entire
square. Along the country roads wolfi^Jmd small boys
are driving horses and donkeys^ jpnd from town, and
in the fields tiny maidens watdP^he flocks of sheep, or
carry bundles of brushwood on their backs.

The American traveler in Greece can hardly escape the
nviction that the enormous onigration movement is

EFFECTS ON GREECE

threatening the yery life of the nation. That there are
no more pronounced effects observable as yet, is due to the
fact that the movement is still not half a generation old.
There are still women left to till the fields, and old men
and infants to tend the flocks. But with the girls remain-
ing unmarried, the old men dying off, and the boys all
leaving for America, the future looks very dark. The
unborn generation seems already doomed. At present
there are no signs of an amelioration of circumstances.
It is true that the crisis in the United States checked the
movement for a time, but with the resumption of business
in America, the spring of 1909 has witnessed a greater
madness for emigration in Greece than ever before. The
extreme conditions which we have observed in the villages
around Tripolis, and which exist in much the same degree
&TQgfd Sparta, are becoming more and more conmion and
widespread in every part of the Greek world. It is no
exaggeration to say that if emigration keeps on at its
present rate of increase, as it promises to do, within
twenty years Greece will be completely drained of its
natural working force, and the population will consist of
a few old men and a host of old women and middle-aged
spinsters. It is possible — ^and from the point of view of
America desirable — that as the years go by, the immi-
grants will begin to bring their women with them, or send
for them a few years after arrival. But this promises no
relief for Greece.

The shocking indifference to the whole matter which is
displayed by the average Greek is based mainly on one
fact and two theories. The fact is the narcotic influence
of the stream of American gold. The theories, in the
truth of which the Greek firmly believes, are, first, that

288

GREEK IMMIGRATION

the great body of emigrant Greeks will sooner or later
return to their native home, and second that ^ when they
do come they will be ^'educated," and will beeome centers
of enlightenment, uplifting influences, teaching their
countrymen progressive methods of business and agricul-
ture, and putting the industry of the country on its feet.
The falsity of the former of these assumptions we have
already seen. The second is perhaps even more mis-
taken. Far from settling down to lift up their fellow
citizens, the few Greeks who do return are on the whole
a restless and discontented lot, and before long the ma-
jority of them break loose once more and go back to
America for ever. Of those who remain, very few accom-
plish anything in the way of productive labor themselves,

not to speak of educating their neighbors. If they have
made their small fortune in America they are content to
spend it in the way that will entail the least exertion. If
not, they can always find some one among their relatives
who is glad to support the eminent traveler from America.
Stop at random one of the young fellows who call out to
you as you go by, "Hullo, boy! Whu yu go'n, ChoUy?"
and ask him what he is doing now, and the chances are
that his reply will be: "Oh, nothing now. I was in
America four years, but my health was not very good
there, and so I came home, and just at present I am not
doing anything." The Greeks in America are on the
whole an industrious lot, but when they go back they
seem all too often to be even more indolent, vain and im-
pertinent than they were before they left. They seem
to catch the spirit of whichever country they are in.

We do not wish to be too harsh in this condemnation.
There is a reverse side to the shield, but it must be con-

284

EFFECTS ON GREECE

fessed that it appears to be a very small one. A shining
example of the admirable application of American ad-
vantages is furnished by the little village of Tsipa down
on the Laconian coast. Its brief history is as follows :

One of the most picturesque figures in modem Athens
is that of old Dr. Kalopothakes, a Protestant missionary
and pastor, of long and noble service. When his son
reached college age, he was sent to America and entered
Harvard College, from which he graduated with a fine
record. He returned to Greece, and a few years ago
went down into Laconia, his father's native home, and in
a sheltered little bay near Limeni erected an up-to-date
olive press. He installed a fine steam plant, built a com-
fortable and well-appointed house for his own use and
altogether put up a very complete and efficient establish-
ment for the production of olive oil. When he went there
his house was the only one there. Now there is a very
flourishing little village. The peasants have learned the
advantage of having him press their olives for them, and
the enterprise is of benefit and profit both to him and them.
Mr. Kalopothakes has taught the peasants the value of
Sunday observance and honest dealing, as well as of up-
to-date business methods. All up and down the coast his
name is spoken with respect.

If such an example as this were only followed more
universally, the whole aspect of Greek emigration would
be different.

285

CHAPTER XII

Effects on the United States

THE discussion of the effects of Greek immigration
upon the United States must of necessity be merely a
forecast, and a rather unsatisfactory one at that. The
annual Greek immigration as yet bears such a small pro-
portion to the great current of the total immigration,
and the total Greek population of the United States is
such an infinitesimal part of the whole, that it is not to
be expected that these people should have made a very
definite impress on the life of our great nation. More
than this, the movement from Greece to the United States
is of altogether too recent origin for its ultimate effects
even to have begun to be apparent. One of the com-
monest errors of writers on sociological topics is to allow
too little time for the action of social forces. We are
inclined to think that the effects of a certain social phe-
nomenon, which we are able to detect in our lifetime, are
the permanent and final effects. We forget that these
matters may require many generatioiw to work themBely«
out.

No better illustration of tiiis could be asked for than
that furnished by the case of the negroes in the United
States. The importation of these people began many
generations ago. To our ancestors it undoubtedly
seemed a perfectly natural thing to do, and for centuries
it did not occur to anybody to even question its rightful-
ness or its expediency. When objections began to be
raised they were feeble and easily put aside. But at last,
the presence of this peculiar class of people in the country

286

EFFECTS ON THE UNITED STATES

inyolved the nation in a terrible and bloody conflict, which
worked irreparable injury to the American stock by the
annihilation of the flower of southern manhood, and left
U8 a problem which is probably the greatest one before
the American people today — one which we haye hardly
begun to solye. There is much of similarity between the
case of the negroes and that of the modem immigrants.
To be sure, the newcomers of today are for the most part
white-skinned instead of colored, which giyes a different
aspect to the matter. Yet in the mind of the ayerage
American, the modem immigrants are generally regarded
as inferior peoples — races which he looks down on, and
with which he does not wish to associate on terms of social
equality. Like the negroes, they are brought in for
economic reasons, to do the hard and menial work to which
an American does not care to stoop. The business of
the alien is to go into the mines, the foundries, the sewers,
the stifling air of factories and work shops, out on the
roads and railroads in the burning sun of summer, or the
driying sleet and snow. If he proyes himself a man, and
rises aboye his station, and acquires wealth, and cleans
himself u]>— yery well, we receiye him after a generation
or two. But at present he is far beneath us, and the
burden of proof rests with him.

The parallel need not be carried further. But is it too
much to say, that the problem of the immigrant is as yet
in the yery embryo, and it may well be a hundred years
before the nation begins to pay the penalty for the mis-
takes that we are making today, in the regulation and
treatment of our alien population?

In its broadest aspect the discussion of the effects of
Greek immigration upon this country would be but a part

287

GREEK IMMIGRATION

of the consideration of the general effects of all immi-
gration. It is far beyond the scope of this work to even
touch the border of this tremendously important, perplex-
ing and many-sided problem. As for the Greeks them-
selves, the most we can do is to review the considerations
which have gone before, and seek to determine the prob-
able outcome'^of the tendencies which we have discerned.
For this purpose, the reader who has in mind the discus-
sions included in the preceding pages, has practically the
same data as the writer.

If the supposition so prevalent in Greece, that all the
Greeks in the United States will return to their native
land in the course of a few years, were true, our problem
would be merely the discussion of the value to our nation
of a temporary laboring force, imported for a few years
from a foreign country, and returning thither again
after their prime was past. This is a matter for indi-
vidual judgment, though there would be many patent
advantages about such a system. But as we have seen,
we are not dealing today with such a class in the case of
the Greeks. They are coming here to stay — to establish
themselves in business, and make this their home.

In regard to their economic avocations, as we have seen,
the prospects are that within a generation or less the
Greeks will practically control the candy, ice cream, fruit
and bootblacking businesses in the United States, and wiU
have a strong hold on the restaurant business. To this,
in itself, there will hardly be objections, so long as they
carry the business on honestly and respectably, and render
good service, as they seem to. But the padrone system
and contract labor system, which are at present bound up
with some of these industries, are a menace to some of our

288

EFFECTS ON THE UNITED STATES

most cherished ideals, and unless our Greek population can
and will rid itself of this reproach, it would be better if
every one of them, who has any connection with these
practices, were driven from our shores.

As factory workers, it can hardly be said that the
Greeks have as yet had any effect upon the country, except
to add a rather troublesome element to the population of
some of the cities in which they settle. In the railroad
work, and in miscellaneous occupations, the Greeks are
merely a handful among our great laboring class, doing
their work with average ability and faithfulness.

As a factor in the charitable work of the country, the
Greeks cut no figure. Practically every one of them has
his own means of support, and they are no burden to the
community. Whether this state of affairs will change
as time goes on, time alone can tell, though the indications
are that it will not to any great extent.

The criminal record of the Greeks is less favorable.
While there are few major criminals among them, they
are probably a greater tax on the police courts of the
country, in proportion to their total number, than any
other class of our population. But their record for the
past decade gives us ground for hope that the years will
bring an improvement in this direction. But it seems
likely that the presence of this race in the country will
add to, rather than diminish, the growing indifference to
law as such, which is one of the most threatening signs of
the times. This lack of reverence for law, and every
form of authority, seems to be characteristic of the chil-
dren of immigrants of every race. But the Greeks appear
to have it when they come. What the character of their
children will be in this respect we can only conjecture.

289

GREEK IMMIGRATION

The sums of money sent home each year are relatively
too insignificant to be of any importance to this country.
Politically, the only effects the Greeks have had is to add
a slight increment to the Republican party. In Omaha,
not long ago, this party was accused of making use of the
Greeks fraudulently to increase their voting list.* In the
wider and higher social and intellectual life of the country,
as we have seen, the Greeks as yet have taken little part.

Table 17 gives the figures for the international com-
merce between Greece and the United States for the decade
1898 to 1907. There is a considerable increase in the
imports from Greece, particularly in the last two years.
The exports to Greece show little change until the last
year of the period when there is a very sudden rise. The
increased immigration undoubtedly accounts largely for
the increase in imports, as it creates a greater demand for
Greek products. The rise in exports may be explained
by the establishment of the Austro-American steamship
line.

The great question which, in the case of the Greeks, as
well as of every other class of our alien population, is of
vital importance and interest to the country, is, Will they
make good citizens? The answer to this depends prima-
rily upon one's individual opinion of what is a good Amer-
ican citizen. Some writers go so far as to intimate that
there is no such thing as a distinctive American citizen.
A large proportion of our population seems to look upon
the ideal American citizen as the man who tends strictly
to business, makes money, lets other people severely alone
and expects them to do the same. If we adopt this point
of view, we can have little hesitation in saying that the

* Morning World-Herald, Omaha, October 99, 1908.

240

EFFECTS ON THE UNITED STATES

Greeks answer the requirements, for as we haye seen, they
are distinctly a money-making class in this country, and
if some of the methods by which they do it wiU not bear
investigation — that is nobody's business, according to the
hypothesis.

But if we look at the matter more broadly, and think
of the ideal American citizen as one who has the higher
and better interests of himself, his neighbor and his coun-
try at heart, and who beUeves that he ought to contribute
to the general betterment of his community during his
lifetime, and give at least as much as he gets — from this
point of view the answer to the question is much less cer-
tain. In this respect, the effect of the immigrant upon
the country is the effect of the country upon the immi-
grant, viewed from a different angle. If the immigrant
finds his change of residence an advantage, if he prospers
morally and socially as well as financially, the chances are
that he will give back to the country something in return
for what he gets. But if the conditions in which he finds
himself placed in his new home are such as to cause him
to preserve, or even increase, any low ideals, vicious habits
or degenerate propensities that he may have, he is, by so
much, a hindrance to the country of his adoption.

As far as the Greeks are concerned, at least, it seems
undeniable that the determination of the question, into
which of these two categories the immigrant shall go, is
largely a matter of distribution. It has been frequently
remarked in the course of the preceding discussion, that
the evil tendencies of Greek life in this country manifest
themselves most fully when the immigrants are collected
into compact, isolated, distinctively Greek colonies, and
that when the Greek is separated from the group and

241

GREEK IMMIGRATION

thrown into relations with Americans of the better class,
he develops and displays many admirable qualities. Our
system and machinery for regulating the admission of
aliens is very complete and well-organized. But we do
practically nothing for them, after they are once inside
the border. We talk with smug complacency of the mar-
velous assimilative power of America. We are, in fact, by
no means sure that these great hordes of foreign nation-
alities are in any true sense assimilated, even after many
years of residence in this country. It is assuming alto-
gether too much to think that mere residence within the
confines of the United States will make true Americans
out of uncultured aliens, when, as we have seen in the case
of the Greeks, a large proportion of them do not even learn
the English language. It is a great question whether the
United States is in any sense ready or fit, in its attitude
toward the immigrant, or in its facilities for giving him
the advantages of American life, to undertake the tremen-
dous responsibility of receiving the immense hordes of
foreigners who are flocking to our shores each year.*

*A striking illustration of the truth of this statement oocnrred
in the winter of 1908-09 in South Omaha, Nebraska. On Friday*
February 19, a Greek in that city shot and kiUed a police officer who
had arrested him for keeping company with a girl under suspicious
circumstances. Hie following Sunday afternoon a mass meeting was
held at the dty hall, at which addresses were made by two of the
members of the state legislature, and a former city attorney. Tbe
passions of the crowd became inflamed and they proceeded to the
Greek quarter in a spirit of mad lawlessness, and ''cleaned it out,**
burning buildings, smashing glass, and driving the deniaens out of tiie
city. No lives were lost but the total damage was estimated at not
less than |SK,000. An interesting sidelight on the event is thrown by
the fact that many of those concerned in the riots, and probably the
officer himself, were Irishmen.

942

• a • « 4

• " •

• • • • »

EFFECTS ON THE UNITED STATES

We have seen that many of the evils which attach to
Greek life in this country are due to the fact that the pop-
ulation is almost wholly male. How long this will con-
tinue to be the case, there is no way of telling. It may
be that within a few years Greek emigration will begin to
have more of a family nature. In that case the future of
the race in this country will be brighter. It will help to
draw the Greeks away from the consolidated colonies, tend
to throw them into closer relations witlf^^Sinerican fami-
lies, and perhaps lead more of them to take up agricul-
tural pursuits, which would be an undoubted improve-
ment.*

There is much about Greek life, as seen in Greece, that
is very attractive, in the way of hospitality, courtesy,
music, love of outdoors, and the tempering of business
activity with a certain amount of leisure and social inter-
course. If the immigrant Greek could add some of these
elements, even in a very small measure, to the life of
America, his presence would be a benefit to the country.
On the other hand, America has much to give the Greek,
in respect of commercial honesty, unselfishness, truthful-
ness, harmony, stability, regard for women and children,
and social virtue. But to accomplish these ends, the
Greek and the American must know each other. Only as
the conditions become such that the old inhabitants and
the newcomer are thrown into close touch and personal
relations with each other, can this mutual interchange of
ideals and customs take place, and the fact of Greek immi-
gration into the United States be made of advantage
both to them and to us.

*Gortsis, America and Americans, pages 71 and 73.

248

APPENDIX

TABLE 1.

PbiVCIPAI. MAJrUFACTUBU JX OpIBATIOir IX THB LbAHQTO ClXIEfl OF

GbSSCB. NuMBBE of "EnABUBSatEXTB,*

1005.

Cities: AthenSt Pineiis, Patras, Volo, Syro, Ck>rfa.

Steam flour mills 98

Cotton mills 13

Macaroni factories 44

Machine shops and foundries S9

Tanneries 91

Carriage factories 31

Soap factories 30

Steam currant-cleaning factories 14

OUve oU factories ^ . .11

Straw hat factories 43

Saddle and harness factories 36

Chair factories 50

Picture frame factories 98

Roofing and tile factories 34

Marble yards 76

Shoemakers' shops 564

* Reports of Consul-General George W. Horton» liK>5.

247

GREEK IMMIGRATION

TABLE 9.

Cufxoia T^Bim nr Ganci.*
Reckoned in Gold Drachmas.

1906.

Bicycles 90 each.

Boots and shoes 15peroke.t

Coffee 180 per 100 oices.

Flour 17.Mperl00oke8.

Lumber (pine or flr» in boards 90 milUmeteis tfaidc) 90 per cubic meter.

Rice (cleaned) 17 per 100 okes.

Saccharine Prohibited.

Soap 150 per 100 okes.

* Reports of Consul-General George W. Horton» 1906.
t Hie oke is a little less than three pounds.

TABLE S.

Wages peb Day nr Gbbeck4

190a

Bride and stone layers 6-7 drachmas.

Laborers S.60-4 dradmias.

Carpenters 6-7 drachmas.

Painters 4-7 drachmas.

Plumbers 6.50-7 drachmas.

Ootliing (mostly piece work; girls finishing suits

by hand) 40-.50 drachmas.

Compositors S.50-4 drachmas.

Farm laborers (male) 3-3.75 drachmas.

Farm laborers (female) .... 9 drachmas.

Machinists 8 drachmas.

Iron moulders 8 drachmas.

In some occupations wages vaiy with the season.

% Reports of Cousul-General George W. Horton, 1908.

248

APPENDIX

TABLE 4.

Pucis nr GmsiCK.*

Bread (commoii) $ .036 pound.

Bread (white) .06 pound.

Butter (oxAdng) .38 pound.

Butter (fresh) 1.30 pound.

Cheese (macaroni) M pound.

Coffee J3-96 pound.

Salmon (canned) .54 pound.

Fish (fresh) 15-38 pound.

Flour .056 pound.

Apples (fresh) .13 pound.

Oranges M dosen.

Ham (boiled) 1.04 pound.

Lemons .19 dosen.

Beef (sirloin) .17 pound.

Beef (fillet) 38 pound.

Lamb .38 pound.

Lamb (yearling) .19 pound.

Poric (fresh) .15 pound.

Milk (fresh cow's) .54 gallon.

Milk (goat's) 43 gallon.

Oatmeal (Quaker Oats) .50 pound.

Sugar .10 pound.

Salt 09 pound.

Tea (Ceylon) 1.30 pound.

Petroleum .75 gallon.

Wood (fuel) 10.00 ton.

Coke • 10.00 ton.

Charcoal 30.00 ton.

Reports of Consul-General George W. Horton, 1906.

249

GREEK IMMIGRATION

TABLB 5.

1908.

Sugar 9 0.19 pound.

Coffee .476 pound.

Tea (medium quality) .815 pound.

Flour .047 pound.

Soap (washing) .095 pound.

Com meal .068 pound.

Lamb 30^ pound.

Potatoes .034 pound.

Salt .097 pound.

Beans .095 pound.

Bread .04 pound.

Butter 137 pound.

Oil 136 pound.

Coke .004 pound.

Wood 0047 pound.

Rice 095 pound.

Kerosene (.3513 gallon) 08

Eggs 63

Shoes 9.11-6.79

Ordinary woolen suit 98.80

Cheap cotton suit 4.80

* Reports of Consul-General George W. Horton, 1906.

260

APPENDIX

TABI.K 6.»

IxMioBAKT Gmsixa Abbiviko IV THZ Uvino Statu^ Fiscal Yiabs

EiTDKD Juke 30.

Year Male Female

Total

1883 ... 68 15

1884

34 3

1885

154 18

179

1886

95 9

104

1887

305 8

313

1888

768 14

789

1889

149 9

158

1890

464 60

594

1891

1,040 65

1,105

1899

604 56

660

1893

• • • •

1,079

1894

• • • •

1,356

1895

• • • •

597

1896

• • • • •

9,175

1897

546 95

571

1898

• • • •

9389

1899

9;M3 139

9,395

1900

3,655 118

3,773

1901

5,754 165

5,919

1909

7,854 961

8^115

1908

13,885 491 .

14^76

1904

19,106 519

19,695

1905

11,586 558

19,144

1906

99,966 861

93,197

1907

44,647 1,636

46,983

1908

96,979 1,836

98,808

1909

18,738 1,594

90,969

^Reports of the Coiniiii88ioiier<jieneral of Immigration.

251

GREEK IMMIGRATION

TABLE 7*

DmuBimox' of thi Paptrukxioir or thb Uvxied Scasbs
GiBiOB Akovo thb DmrnBirT ScAxni, Erc^ 1900.

Alabama,

199

Montana,

Ariiona»

Arkansas,

New Hampshire^

California,

879

New Jersey,

115

Ck>lorado,

New Meiico,

Connecticut,

191

New York,

1,573

Delaware,

North Carolina,

District of Columbia,

North Dakota,

Florida,

Ohio,

91S

Georgia,

191

^dahomf^

Hawaii,

Oregon,

Idaho,

Pennsylyania,

465

I11fnol8,

1,570 .

Rhode Island,

Indiana,

South Carolina,

Indian Territory,

South Dakota,

Iowa,

18 .

Tennessee,

Texas,

169

Kentucky,

Utah,

Louisiana^

Vermont,

Maine,

Virghiia,

Maryland,

Washington,

Massachusetts,

IJMS

West Virginia,

108

Michigan,

184

Wisconsin,

Minnesota,

Wyoming,

930

Mississippi,

Missouri,

Total

8,655

* United States Census, Voltune I^ Table 38.

252

APPENDIX

TABLB S.*

DonuBmnQx- of thz Gbixx PopuukTxoir of the

THE Srcified Number of Cribs iir thi

1 VAEioim

Statu nr 1904.

No. of
Stote Cities

No. of

Greeks

Alabama .... 3

467

Aikansas

Aiuona

Connecticttt

4»

. .»

614

California

. 13

4^79

Colorado

778

Delaware

Florida

189

Georgia
Idaho

6
9

773

368

Illinois

8313

Indiana

•

308

Indian Territory
Iowa

1
6

90
166

994

Kentadiy
Louisiana

. 3'
1

68
960

Maine

119

Maryland
Massachusetts

418
8,667

Minnesota .

941

Mississippi .
Montana

3
1

131

Nebraska

- 1

Michigan
Nevada

8
1

394
19'

New Hampshire .
New Jersey
New YoA .

406
446

8344

North Carolina .

North Dakota

States iv

^Thermopylae Almanac, 1904^ P^ges 306 seq.

258

GREEK IMMIGRATION

Naof

No. of

Stote Cidea

Greeks

Ohio 91

795

Oregon

110

Pennnylyania

. 96

3,148

Rhode Island

253

South Carolina ,

157

South Dakota

Tennessee

406

Teatas

844

Utah .

573

Vermont

Virginia

155

Washington

994

West Virginia .

Wisconsin

891

Wyoming .

District of Columbia

989

Alaska Territory

Total

48,607

Workers on railroads and in fac-

tories.

94,000

Grand total

67,607

264

APPENDIX

TABLE 9.»

Sex, Aoi aitd Illitekact of Geeexs Adsotted, Fucal Ybau Ekded

Juki SO.

Year

1900
1901
1908
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908

Sex

Male Female

Totol
3,773
6,919
8,115

3,655 118

5,754 165

7354 961

13,885 491 14^76

13,106 519 19,695

11,586 558 19,144

99,966 861 83,197

44/147 1,636 46,983

96,979 1,836 98,808

0-14
years

388

506

687

1,185

605

446

718

819

868

-Agre—
1^45 46 and
years over

3.996 89
5,938 175

7.997 901
19,951 940
11,883 137
11,593 175
99,174 935
45,169 995
97,617 393

iLUmACT OF THOSE 14 YbAU OlD AITD OvEE.

1900
1901
1909
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908

Read but
not write

Neither read
nor write

—Percentages—
Per cent Per cent
niiterate Males

578

15.3

96.6

lnS98

93.6

97.9

9,994

97.4

96.8

3,653

95.4

95.9

9,891

99.4

95.4

9,665

91.9

96.3

5,956

99.7

96.4

13,883

30.0

93.6

7,951

97.6

93.7

^Reports CommlBsioiier-Geiieral of Immigration.

265

GREEK IMMIGRATION

TABLB 10.»

MaxMT Showv bt

Year
1000
1901
1009
1008
1004
1005
1006
1007

looe

GiBBKS Admirbd to thb UirmD
YiAU EvDED Juke SO.f

Money Shownl

Leas Total

180100 or than Money

Total Over |8aOD Shown

3,773 346 9,071 9108,509

5,010 500 4^095 09,145

8,115 840 6,590 141,581

14^76 1,814 10,860 960,019

19,695 1,000 10,011 340,875

19,144 1,159 10,310 331371

93,197 1,571 90,013 * 545,611

46,^ 9365 38,045 067^79

98308 1,688 94^76 577^70

Money
per Capita

99&78

15^7

17.45

18.77

97.71

97J33

93.59

90.91

90.06

Admitro«znto thb Unmo Statu Who Hayb Bi
Beforb— FuGAX. Ybabs Ekded JnxB 30.

1900 335

1001 306

1009 900

1003 451

1004 503

. 1005 1391

> 1006 1303

' 1007 1,041

1008 1,091

'Reports of the Commissioner-General of Immigration.

f These figures are not exact, as the total of the two classes given
in the table does not coincide with the total immigration.

^Beginning with 1004 the classification is on the basis of those wbo
show 950 more or less, instead of $30.

266

APPENDIX

TABLB !!.•

GUEKKS DmiABBTO, DiPOBISD AXD RlUETKO IK HoiPlTAI, FlKAL YkUU

Bvmo Juins SO.

Debarred 1900 1901 1908 1906 1904 1906 1906 190? 1908

Feeble minded 3

Insane persons 4 1 1

Paupers, or likely to become

public charges . . 63 70 67 474 4d9 193 366 393 917
Loathsome or dangerous con-
tagions diseases . 9 10 Id 99 46 100 31 107 116

CouTicts • . • 1 6 ..

Surgeon's certificate of defect 67

Under sixteen years unac-
companied 11

Assisted aliens 1

Criminals 3

Accompanying aliens 94 16 7

Contract Uborers . .4 9 1 111 63 60 439 63 44
Total debarred . . 76 89 80 614 697 363 867 684 469
Returned after 1, 9 or 3 years 9 9 9 9 91 10 10 91 67
ReUeved in hospital . 41 31 61 191 100 70 189 367
Per cent debarred . 9.0 13 1.0 4.3 4.9 9.9 3.7 1.3 1.6
General per cent of total im-
migration debarred . 0.96 0.79 0.76 1.09 0.98 1.16 1.19 1.09 1.39

•

Reports of the Commissioner-General of Immigration.

257

GREEK IMMIGRATION

TABLE 19.*

OCCUPATIOirS OF GtBEKKB

AoxxTnED^ FncAL Ykais Bkobd Jmnt SO.

Year

Profes-
sional

Skilled

^Miscellaneoni

Farm
Laborers Laborers

Percent
Total UnskUledt

1900

. 14

695

1,100

1,165

9,478

1901

. 17

787

9,579

1,509

4370

1909

. 16

999

3318

1,641

5313

1908

. 44

1,669

3,680

6,048

10383

1904

. 89

1,808

3,995

5357

9397

1905

. 79

1,594

9,639

5,818

9,679

1906

. 98

9,091

4,615

19375

19396

1907

. 87

9,165

6,994

33,444

40306

1908

. 99

1,089

9,876

91304

95,107

'Reports of the Commissioner-General of Immigration.
fApprozimate.

TABLE 13.*

GbEKK PoPUULTIDir OF SOMK OF TBI LsAIIIirO' CniEi OF THB UXTRO

1908.

(Approximate.)

Albany, N. Y.,

400

Brockton, Mass.,

100

Allegjicny, Pa.,

100

Bridgeport, Conn.,

400

Altoona, Pa.,

BtifTalo, N. Y.,

400

Atlanta, Ga.,

500

Bntler, Pa.,

150

Augusta, Ga.,

Canton, Ohio,

100

Aurora, IlL,

900

Central Falls, R. I.,

150

Baltimore, Md.,

400

Charlotte N. C

100

Berkeley, Calif.,

100

Cheyenne, Wyo^

300

Biddeford, Me.,

450

Chicago, IlL,

15300

Birmingham, Ala.,

500

Chicopee, Mass.,

100

Boise, Idaho,

300

Cincinnati, Ohio,

500

Boston, Mass.,

1300

Clinton, Mass.,

150

•Gieek-American Goide, 1909, pages 359, 361.

268

APPENDIX

CleyeUnd, Ohio, 850
Colorado Springs, Colo^ 150

Colmnbiu, Ofaio^ 150

Concord, N. H^ 150

Cripple Creek, Colo^ 100

Danbury» Conn^ 100

Dayton, Ohio, 150

Denver, Colo^ 600

Des Moines, la., 150

Detroit, Mich., 400

Dover, N. H. 150

Duluth, Minn., 100

Ely, Key., 400

Elsey, Ala., SOO

Eureka, Nev., 190

Fall River, Mass., 350

Fitchbnrg, Mass., 900

Fond du Lac, Wis., 130

Fort Wayne, Ind., 150

Fresno, Calif., 150

Galveston, Tex., 300

Garsten, Ala., 150

Grand Rapids, Mich., 150

Garfield, Utah, 400

Harrisbnrg, Pa., 100

Hartford, Conn., 150

Haverhill, Mass., 700

Holyoke, Mass., 150

Indianapolis, Ind., 400

Jacksonville, Fla., 150

Kansas City, Kan., 100

Kansas City, Mo., 450

Klrmara, Idaho, 150

Lancaster, Pa^ 100

LaCrosse, Wi^., 100

Laramie^ Wyo., 950

Lawrence, Mass., 900

Lewiston, Me^ 900

Lincoln, Neb., 100

Los Angeles, Calif., 600

Lowell, Mass., 7,000

Lynn, Mass., 1,500

Madison, IlL, 190

McKeesport, Pa., 900

Manchester, N. H., 3,000

Marlboro, Mass., 100

Marysville, Calif., 100

Memphis, Tenn., 900

MUwanke^ Wis., 600

Minneapolis, Minn., 300

Mobile, Ala., 350

Moline, IlL, 950

Montgomery, Ala., 150

Nashville, Tenn., 900

Nashua, N. H., 1,500

Newark, N. J., 500

New Bedford, Mass., 450

Newcastle, Pa., 140

New Haven, Conn., 300

New Orleans, La., 300

Newport News, Va., 900

Newport, R. I., 950
N. Y. aty (Greater), 90,000

Norwich, Conn., 900

OaUand, CaUf., 450

Ogden, Utah, 400

Omaha, Neb., 1,500

Orange, N. J., 400

OroviUe, CaUf., 80

Oneida, Idaho, 900
Pawtncket, R. I., ^ 950

^eabMy, M%ss., 300

Pensacola, Fla., 950

PhUaddphia, Pa., 1,800

Pittsbnrg, Pa^ 3,500

Pocatello, Idaho, SOO

Portland, Ore., 1,500

Pong^eepsie, N. Y., 900

Providence, JL I., 500

Pneblo, Colo., 900

Reading, Pa., 350

Reno, Nev., 150

259

GREEK IMMIGRATION

Roanoke, Va^ 100

Rochester, N. Y^ 950

Rock Island, IlL, 350

Sacramento^ Calif., 850

St. Louis, Mo., 9,000

St Pan], Minn., 900

Salem, Mass., 150

Salida, Colo., 80

Salt Lake aty, Utah, 9,000

Santa Barbara, Calif., 80

San Prandsco, Calif., 3,000

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., 950

Savannah, Ga^ 500

Schenectad^r, N. Y., 950

Seattle, Wash., 500

Sheboygan, Wis., 450

Sioux Falls, S. a, 100

Somersworth, N. H., 900

South Chnaha, Neb., 400

Springfield, Mass., 300

Stamford, Conn., 900

Stockton, CaUf., 100

Syracuse, N. Y., 975

Tampa, Fla., 190

Thompsonville, Conn^ 175

Taunton, Mass., 150

Terre Haute, Ind., 150

Tarpon Springs, Fla., 1,000

Topeka, Kan., 150

Troy, N. Y., 100

Utica, N. Y, 100

Washington, D. C 400

Wheeling, W. Va., 900

Wilkesbarre^ Pa., 160

Wilmington, DeL, 900

Wdbum, Mass., 950

Worcester, Mass., 450

youngstown, Ohio, 100

Yoik, Pa^ 100

TABLE 14.*

Destikatiok

OF Gkbeks .

THE UxmxD Statbs, FncAL Ybais

E2n>ED Junk 30.

state

1900

1901

1909

1903

1904

1905

1906

1907

1908

California,

155

140

115

398

1,608

796

Illinois,

IfiOO

9,136

9,663

4,318

9,879

1,504

9,817

5,070

9,514

M'sachusetts,

865

943

1,173

9,538

9,119

9,108

3,879

7,993

4,116

New Hamp.,

984

998

585

1,974

9,377

915

New York,

1,499

9,197

9,935

4,189

3,579

3,154

6,150

14379

103^

Pennsylvania,

105

141

436

l/)99

906

699

1,590

9.681

1,788

Wisconsin,

177

994

949

664

1,306

694

Missouri,

• •

•

774

1,671

9,396

3,191

1,856

New Jersey,

• •

•

• •

169

396

UOO

480

* Reports of the Commissioner-^atoeral of Immigration.

260

APPENDIX

TABLE 15.

Dmmnnoir or Gixkk IvDuaxusi Aicoiro vhk Cixiis or the Ukird

[From the Themiopylae Almanac, 1904.]

Nmnber of cities in the different states having at least one store
of the type spediledt **"

Candy Stores Fruit Stores

Alabama,

Arlcansas,

California,

Colorado,

Connecticnt,

Delaware,

District of Colmnbia,

Florida,

Georgia,

Illinois,

Indiana,

•

Iowa,

•

Louisiana,

Kansas,

•

Massachusetts,

Maryland,

Michigan,

Minnesota,

•

Mississippi,

•

New Hampshire^

•

New Jersey,

New York,

North Carolina,

Ohio,

Oklahoma,

•

Pennsylvania,

Rhode Island,

•

South Carolina,

Tennessee,

Texas,

Vermont,

1 I

•

West Virginia,

9 ^

•

Wisconsin,

•

261

GREEK IMMIGRATION

TABLE 16.

Clameficatiov op AnvnxiiBMKins or Two Gopiks op the ''Ati.avtii,'

OP Atbkaob CHA&ACm.

(Issue of November 85, 1908.)

Total advertiBiiig space (not want ads.) 725 square

Steamship lines ....

179 sq. in.

Confectioners, confectioners' supplies and

furniture ....

114 sq. in.

Doctors, medical institutes, etc .

69 sq. in.

General ....

Private diseases

Slioe polish

45 sq. in.

Importers

45 sq. in.

Tobacco and tobacco stores

34 sq. in.

Banks .....

33 sq. in.

Jewelry

31 sq. in.

General stores (groceries) .

30 sq. in.

Dentists

17 sq. in.

Miscellaneous ....

198 sq. in.

Total,

795 square indies

(Issue of November 11, 1908.)
Total advertising space (not want ads.) 619 square

Steamship lines 166 sq. in.

Confectioners, confectioners' supplies and

furniture 100 sq. in.

Doctors, medical institutes, etc 80 sq. in.

General .... 30

Private diseases ... 50

Shoe polish 50 sq. in.

Miscellaneous 916 sq. in.

Total,

619 square inches

Note— The figures in tliis table do not include book advertise-
ments inserted by the Atlantis Company, of which there are a large
number.

968

APPENDIX

TABLE 17.»

JjKTKMXAmOVAJ* COMlflBCS BkTWEEK GiXKCI AXD TBI UxriTED

Imports from Greece

Exports from the
United SUtes to Grc

Year into the United .States

1808 ... 9 910^390

9 197,559

1899

944^91

913,507

1900

1,199,855

990,709

1901

1,194»775

991,538

1908

M6S»l«i

305,950

1903

1396,935

330,844

1904

1,588,946

949,999

1905

1,970,799

181,970

1906

9,038,406

939,796

1907

3,086,417

1,634,431

'StotiBtical Abstract of the United Stotes, 1907, page 999.

268

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BoOKf.

Baedeker, Karl . . . • Greece.

Bailey, William B. . . . Modem Social Gonditioiu.

Booras, John Tliennopylae Almanac, 1904 (Greek).

Bushee Etlmlc Factors in the Population of

Boston.

Brandenburg^ B Imported Americans.

Canoutas, S. G Greek-American Guide, 1900

(Greek).
Commissioner - General of

Inmiigration .... Annual Reports.

Commons, John R. . • . Races and Immigrants in America.

Cos, G. W General History of Greece.

Edgar, W. C. Hie Story of a Grain of Wheat

Gortsis, N America and Americans (Greek).

Hall, P. F Immigration.

Hull House Maps and Papers.

\ Keller, A. G Colonisation.

Kenngott, George F. . . . Housing Conditions in Lowell

(Unpublished).

Lascarato, Andrew . . . The Mysteries of Cephalonia

(Greek).

MalthuSy Thomas R. . . . Essay on Population.

Perdicaris, G. A. . . • • Greece of tlie Greds.

Ripley, William Z. . . . The Races of Europe.

Smith, Adam Wealth of Nations.

Steiner, E. A On the Trail of the Immigrant.

United States Census Publications.

Anthropological Review

4:zciz., Quotation from Hyde Clarke,
Anthropological Investigations
in Smyrna.

6:154^ J. B. D., Greek Anthropol-
ogy, Reriew of NicoluocL

207

GREEK

Bent, J. Theodofe .... In m Gicck Fami^ To^aj. UttdTs

Ufing Age* 1«:110.
Graek PfeaMnt Life, UttdTs LMag
Age» 170:090.

Bladde, John Sturt . . . Cfaristum Greeee^ Blackwood^ 15Sr

IM.
Modem Greeee^ Fomm, 83:113^

BlaAwood'u Ma§ntDe . . 48:409, 090, Modem Greece.

07: 596, Modem Greece.
76:408, Kinf Otlio and His Classic

KingdoDL
79:904, GreelE Cfanrdi.

Chatttanqiian 14:573» Modem Greece and the Bal-
kan States.

d^Bstonraelles, P Superstitioiis of Modem Greece,

Gentoiy, 11:580.

Fiastman, G The Greco-Toridsh War, Chaatau-

qiian, 95:348.

Blliott, W. A The Modem Greek, Ghautauqaaii,

48:144.

Faircfaild, H. P Distributicm of Immigrants, Yale

Review, November, 1907.

Felton, Bonice W Industries of Modem Greece, lip-

pincotfs, 34:388.

Galloway, M. A. A. . . . Free Greece, Nineteenth Centnrjr,

93:803.

Gladstone, W. E Greece and the Treaty of Berlin,

Nineteenth Century, 6:1191.

Hanbury, R. W The Spoilt Child of Europe, Nine-

teentii Century, 6:998.

Harris, Walter B The Conduct and Present Condition

of Greece, Bladswood's, 169: 96&

Koeppen, A. L. . • . . Sketches of a Traveler from Greece,

Mercersburg Review, 9:409.

Lascaris Tlie Threatened Depopulation of

Greece, Chambers' Journal,
88:40.

Lawrence, Eugene .... The Greek Churdi, Harper's Month-
ly, 45:405.

Lawton, W. C Greek Language, Ancient and Mod-
em, Atlantic 56:399.

968

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lloyd, Charles B.
Lynch, Hannah

Mahaffy, J. P.

Manatt, J. Irving .
New York Quarterly

Norman, Henry •

Penny Magaxhie
Ripley, William Z.

Saturday Review .

Seymour, T. D.

Speare, Charles P.

Westminster Review .

Wheeler, Benjamin Ide •

Modem Greece, Cosmopolitan, 99 1
687.

Greece of To-day, Westminster Re-
view, 139:155.

Monasteries and Religion in Greece,
Chautauquan, 9:1.

The Present Condition and Pros-
pects of Greece, Chautauquan,
9:383.

The Living Greek, Review of Re-
views (American), 11:398.

4:359, Greece, Past, Present and

Future.
The Wreck of Greece, Scribner's,

93:399.

3: 339,347, Emigration to Greece.

Races in the United States, Atlan-
tic, December, 1908.

58:733, Finance in Greece.
84:333^456, Greece and Its People.

Life and Travel in Modem Greece,

Scribner's, 4:46.
Life in Modem Greece, New Bng-

lander, 46:359.

What America Pays Europe for
Immigrant Labor, North Ameri-
can Review, January, 1908.

30:74, Modem Greece.

63:345, Character, Condition and

Prospects of the Greek People.
67:338, Review of "The Mysteries of

Cephalonia," Lascarato.
79:183, Modem Greece and the

Greeks.

The Modem Greek as a Fighting
Man, North American Review,
164:609.

The Royal Family of Greece, Cen-
tury, 33:139.

369

GREEK IMMIGRATION

WiUcoz, Walter F. . . . The Distribution of Immigrants in

the United States, Quarterly
Journal of Economics, August,
1906.

WilUamSy Cbarles .... The Tbessalian War of 1897, Fort-
nightly Review, 67:959.

270

INDEX

Age of immigrants 113, 184

Agents 79, 88» 91

Agriculture 7, 61, 67, 81, S95

Albanian influence 15, 18

Ambassador to the United States 191

Ancient language 50, 56

Anthropology 19

Assimilation 177, 306, dl8, S40

Athens 18, 31, S3, 36, 39, 49, 63, 64, 70, 174, 175, 333

Athletics 36, 134, 135, 309

Atlantis 153, 333

Berths on shipboard . . r. 101

Birth certificates 184

Bootblacks in Greece 173

Bootblack shops 93, 137, 151, 160, 171

Boston 167, 169, 186, 301

Bulgaria 74

Calamata 63, 67

Candy 169

Candy stores 93, 137, 159, 165

Cham letter 87, 119

CSiaracter, national 9, 13

Chicago 118, 133

Child labor (See also padrone system) 131, 145, 151, 184

Cities in Greece 61, 333

Coffee-houses 39, 36, 133, 135, 149, 306, 309

Colonies, ancient 9

Colonies in the United States 130

Commercialism 34

Commerce 340

Committee, Greek, on emigration 337

Consul, American 100

Contract labor 89, 163, 177, 186

Corinth Canal 65

Courtesy 33

278

INDEX

Crete 31

CriminaUty in Chicago liM, S36

Criminality in Lowell 14tf

Criminality in New Yorit 156

CriminaUty in the United States 300, 339

Crisis of 1907 84, 109, 113, 199, 220

Cruelty to animals S7

Currants 61, 64, 65, 76, 81

Dancing 33, 49, 103

Debarred immigrants 116

Dependence in Chicago 133

Dependence in Lincoln 164

Dependence in Lowell 144

Dependence in New York 151

Dependence in the United States 193, 339

Depopulation 333

Deported immigrants ' 116

Dishonesty 34, 66, 69, 147, 307

Disinfection 95

Distribution 117, 318,341

Diversity of character 14

Dowry 39, 93

Drinldng 37, 48, 139, 305

Early emigration 8

Easter 49

Economic conditions in Greece 60

Education in Greece 40, 176

Education in the United SUtes 143, 146, 158, 17^

Eikons 45

Ellis Island 105, 184

Embarkation 99

English language 145, 318

Environmental influence 6, 9

Exchange, f aU in 71, 323

Exploitation 140, 146, 187

Exports 61, 64, 331

Extent of Greek world 4, 11

Factionalism 10, 65, 69, 139, 153, 155, 907

Factory laborers 188

374

INDEX

FamUy Ufe 135, 138» 148, 198, 918

Farmers 190

Fasts 44, 73

Female labor 99, 995

Festivals 48

Fishers 189

Flower selling 19T, 151, 167

Food, in Greece 63, 73

Food, on shipboard 99, 103

Food, in the United States 164, 180

France 39, 76

Fruit stores 137, 165

Gambling 38, 95, 143, 905

Germans 197

Granunar 55

Godfather 178

Habitation-districts 6, 60

Health 133, 145, 180, 199, 307, 316

History 15, 31

HoUdays 47, 68, 163, 179

Hospital on shipboard 104

Hotels and restaurants 137, 151, 153, 171

HuU House 133,153

Humor 37

Ice cream parlors 137

Illiteracy of immigrants 114

Imports 68, 331

Induced emigration 88, 91

Industry 69, 67, 79, 933

Inspection, in Greece 95, 97

Inspection, in America 105

Interest 71, 333

Intermarriage 136, 138, 148, 198

Irish 148, 197, 343

Italians 133, 133, 195, 149, 151, 157, 159, 163, 166, 179, 173, 900, 909

Jews 157, 196

Juvenile delinquency 131, 158, 304

275

INDEX

Kings 16

Laconia 133» i»5

Laws on immigration, of the United States 89

Laws on unmigration, proposed Greek S97

Laws on immigration, violations of 183, 188

Lincoln 159

Uving conditions 195, 135, 148, 1G3, 164, 179, 198, 915

LoweU 199, 13S

Macedonia 191, 134, 146

Maitliusian tlieory 7

Marriage 39, 93

Megalopolis 174, 175, 939

Military service 59, 70, 997

Mineral resources , 67

Miners 190

Monasteries 48

Money 69, 70, 71, 85, 917

Money, amount shown 116

Money sent ''home'' 79, 78, 99, 161, 181, 191, 990, 991, 940

Music 99

Naturalization 909, 910

Negro slaves 936

New Haven 170, 901

Newspapers, in Greece 91, 59, 64

Newspapers, in Chicago 198

Newspapers, in New York 153

Newspapers, in the United States 909

New York 199, 147

Occupations, in Greece 7, 60, 64

Occupations of immigrants 117

Occupations in Chicago 194» 197

Occupations in Lowell 135, 138

Occupations in New York 150

Occupations in the United States 165, 189, 938

Orthodox church 49, 45, 59

Orthodox church in Chicago 196

Orthodox church in LoweU 141

276

INDEX

Orthodox church in New York 166

Orthodox church in the United SUtes 908

Orthodox community 190

Orthodox community of Chicago 196, 1S9

Orthodox community of Lowell 141

Orthodox community of New York 166

Padrone system 113, 197, 160, 179

Panhellenic 163

Panhellenic Union 191

Patras 39, 63, 66, 79, 80, 94, 174

Patriotism 36, 46, 164, 911

Peddlers 198, 168, 909

Peloponnesus 6, 174, 999

Phylloxera 76

Physical characteristics 19

Political conditions 69

PoUtics .34, 909, 910, 940

Population, of Greece 60, 61, 994

Population, Greek, of the United States 110

Population, Greek, of Chicago 193

Population, Greek, of LoweU 133

Population, Greek, of New York 148

Postal service 63

Prices, in Greece 70, 81

Priests 47, 48, 49, 79, 193, 196, 908

Pronunciation 1 66

Prosperity V. 199, 919, 916, 918

Protestants j 38, 66, 69, 909

Quality of immigrants 86

Racial stock 16, 17, 60

Railroads 6, 63

Railroad laborers 163, 186

Recreations 196, 169, 909

Rents 70

Restaurants (see hotels and restaurants).

Returning emigrants 110, 116, 917, 938

Roman Catholic C3iurch 49

Roumania 74

277

INDEX

Sex of immigrants 112, 2S4

Sexual morality 38, 131, 906

Shipping 65, 72, 81

Smyrna 5, 9, 39

Social classes 60, 152

Socialism 209

Societies 126, 156

Sources of emigration 85

Sparta 63, 83, 84, 226

Steerage conditions , 99

Taxation 67

Tenements 136, 149

Tips 181

Topography 5

Trachoma 98

Trade unions 209

Transportation 62

Transvaal, emigration to 70, 78

Tripolis 63, 83, 91, 174, 192, 228

Tsipiana 90, 231

Tuberculosis 145, 199

Turkey 5, 15, 32, 35, 39, 56, 78, 80, 88, 174, 210

Volume of inunigration 109

Voyage 100

Wages in Greece 70, 226

Wages in the United States 139, 151, 164, 180

War of 1897 26, 31

War of Independence 16

Wealth in Greece 69

Wealth in the United SUtes 151, 193

White slave trade 226

278

'^a oo.

005 I G121

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